Judge in Hockey Canada sexual assault trial says complainant’s evidence ‘not credible or reliable’
Justice Maria Carroccia stated Thursday morning that she “does not find the evidence of EM credible or reliable” while delivering her decisions in the London sexual assault trial of five former Canadian World Junior Championship players.
According to reporters at the courthouse, Carroccia said, “The Crown cannot meet the onus on any of the counts before me.” Carroccia also said that, “in this case, I have found actual consent not vitiated by fear.”
Carroccia is still in the process of reading the reasons for her decisions, as well as recounting the case, as of 11:00 AM ET.
Former NHLers Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton and Carter Hart are all facing one count of sexual assault, while Michael McLeod faces two.
Four of the five players were active NHLers as recently as the 2023-24 season, with Alex Formenton having last played in 2022. Dube and McLeod played in the KHL this season, while Foote played in Slovakia. Formenton and Hart have not played since being charged last year. All five players were left unsigned by their respective NHL clubs.
In June of 2018, the accused were in London, Ont., to celebrate Canada’s 2018 World Junior gold medal win. After the Hockey Canada event, members of the team attended a bar in downtown London, where they met the alleged victim (only known as E.M. due to a publication ban). The alleged assault took place in a hotel room in London.
In April of 2022, the alleged victim filed a statement of claim, seeking $3.55 million in damages from Hockey Canada, the Canadian Hockey League and eight players who were unnamed at the time. Hockey Canada would go on to settle the lawsuit the following month for an undisclosed amount out of court.
All five players pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial on April 22.
Both juries for the trial had been dismissed as a result of juror complaints about the defense counsel’s behavior. The first was dismissed days into the trial after Justice Carroccia declared a mistrial due to alleged improper communications between one of the defense attorneys and a juror on a lunch break. The second was dismissed weeks later because the jurors felt a bias toward the defense lawyers after claiming they insulted the jurors in court.