Lead detective in investigation that led to sex assault charges testifying at ex-world juniors trial

Justice Maria Carroccia asks her a few questions about how long she’s been a police officer (seven years with London police and 15 years in total).

Carroccia asks how Ryan came to be the lead investigator on the case. Ryan says she was selected by her boss.

“We just wanted to make sure that any loose ends were tied up, if there were any. It was a review to make sure everything was done properly,” Ryan tells Carroccia.

Ryan is now finished her time in the witness box.

She wasn’t in the courtroom for the majority of the case because she was included on a witness list. Usually, the investigating officer sits with the Crown and helps with trial and evidence strategy.

Ryan testifies she didn’t speak to E.M.’s co-workers who were with her at Jack’s bar that night because E.M.’s anonymity was important to her and her co-workers had “no idea” what had happened after E.M. left the bar.

“I was trying to respect that.”

Ryan tells Cunningham she didn’t “feel the need to investigate” E.M. Her job was to corroborate what E.M. told her and what she told police in 2018.

The detective says one of her goals was to limit E.M. having to retell the story over and over, to limit the traumatic experience.

Cunningham asks Ryan if E.M.’s “self-blame” in 2018 was problematic.

“No, I found it quite normal based on previous experience with victims of sexual assault,” Ryan says.

The 2022 Hockey Canada statement in which E.M. seems to be more sure that “what happened in the room was wrong” can be attributed to four years having passed and E.M. having thought about what happened, Ryan says.

E.M. “understands that she was not to blame and her acquiescence did not equal consent,” Ryan wrote about E.M. in 2022.

That finishes Cunningham’s cross-examination of Ryan.

Ryan tells assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham that during her interactions with E.M., she was conscious of not influencing her in any way.

Ryan says she didn’t speak to E.M. about how the investigation would unfold, just that it was being reopened.

Ryan says that when she went to E.M.’s house to tell her the investigation was being reopened E.M. was “quite upset” and Ryan felt “pretty bad.” (NOTE: The new investigation was launched after media reported Hockey Canada had settled E.M.’s civil lawsuit).

“She [E.M.] told you it was a lot of information to take in, that she thought this chapter in her life was closed?” Cunningham asks Ryan.

“I got the sense that I was opening up some wounds that she was trying to close,” Ryan tells the Crown. “It was a bit overwhelming, She wasn’t expecting this.”

At this point, there was an audible gasp from the family members of the accused men and others in the courtroom.

Ryan says she told E.M. there would be a new investigation, and if there were grounds to lay charges, the detective would have a further discussion with E.M. about what would take place and how she felt about that.

Ryan says she determined a followup interview with E.M., after first speaking with her on July 22, 2022, wasn’t needed because she had the 2018 police interviews on video and the Hockey Canada statement.

Ryan tells the lawyer “we had everything we needed from her and an interview would be retraumatizing.”

Ryan says she didn’t speak to E.M.’s co-workers who were with her at Jack’s bar on the night in question in June 2018 because she was told by E.M. that they didn’t have anything valuable to add, as they weren’t with her when she was consuming the majority of the drinks that night.

E.M. didn’t tell Ryan that she was texting with her co-worker while at the bar, Ryan says, adding that wouldn’t have added anything to her investigation.

Sayani suggests to Ryan that she could have determined E.M.’s level of sobriety or her efforts to “escape” McLeod at the bar. Ryan responds she wouldn’t have put much weight on that from the texts.

Sayani has now ended his questioning of the detective.

Both Lisa Carnelos, Dillon Dubé’s lawyer, and Julianna Greenspan, Cal Foote’s lawyer, say they have no questions for Ryan.

Carter Hart’s lawyer, Riaz Sayani, is now questioning Ryan, the detective.

On July 20, 2022, Ryan went to E.M.’s house between 8:44 a.m. and 9:22 a.m. ET to tell her the investigation by London police was being reopened.

Ryan says she told E.M. she was “looking at the investigation with a fresh set of eyes.”

Sayani asks Ryan about a phone call on July 28, 2022, in which she spoke to E.M. about her statement to Hockey Canada.

Sayani suggests to Ryan there were “significant differences” between that statement and her initial 2018 police interview.

Ryan says that in the 2018 statement, E.M. appeared to be “self-blaming and not sure if what happened was wrong,” but in the Hockey Canada statement, “she seems to understand how she felt and that what happened in that room was wrong.”

It was an important difference, Ryan tells Sayani.

Dan Brown, lawyer for Alex Formenton, tells the court his client won’t be testifying in his own defence, as he was one of the players who spoke to police in 2018 and his video statement was already played for the court.

Brown calls Det. Lyndsey Ryan to the witness box and says he will be brief.

Brown asks Ryan if she did a criminal background check on Formenton and she confirms he does not face nor has he faced any other criminal charges.

Ryan led the second investigation in the case that led to the sexual assault charges against the five former players.

The first London police investigation, in 2018, resulted in no charges.

This trial has garnered considerable public attention, but it’s not just being followed in sports circles and by advocates against gender-based violence.

The legal community is also watching the proceedings, where there have been many dramatic developments and a preponderance of evidence shown in court.

My colleague Katie Nicholson spoke with three lawyers who are not involved in the case but have been watching it closely to get their views on some of the evidence and how it might play into the final outcomes of the trial.

You can read Katie’s latest reporting here.

Good morning. I’m a producer based in Toronto and I’ll be curating our live page today.

Our team of reporters is back at London’s courthouse to cover the latest developments at the weeks-long trial.

To get caught up on how things ended last week, click here.

Also a reminder that you can find all of our online coverage of the trial here.