World junior trial: Judge rejects Crowns last attempt to admit Howden text [Video]

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An Ontario judge ruled Monday a text conversation initiated by a member of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team won’t be admitted as evidence in his ex-teammates’ sexual assault trial.

Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia said Crown prosecutors, who had already tried to get the June 2018 conversation between Brett Howden and Taylor Raddysh admitted as evidence, did not meet the onus for it to be admissible under a hearsay application.

A hearsay application is a mechanism in which hearsay evidence can be admitted if it is deemed necessary and reliable. The Crown filed the application on Friday after its past recollection recorded application — a prior statement captured in some form – was rejected.

The arguments made inside a London, Ont., courthouse since last Thursday centre around Howden’s text conversation with Raddysh on June 26, 2018 — days after the alleged incident at the heart of the sexual assault…