The Crown has decided not to appeal an Ontario Superior Court justice’s July 24 not guilty decisions in the sex assault trial for five former world junior hockey players.
The Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General has 30 days to file a notice of appeal of a judge or jury’s rulings.
Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia found Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote not guilty of sexual assaulting a woman in a London, Ont., hotel room in 2018. The team and hockey officials were in the city to celebrate Canada’s world junior gold medal won months earlier.
For the eight-week trial, the complainant was referred to as E.M., as her identity is protected under a standard publication ban.
Carroccia ruled that E.M.’s evidence was neither reliable nor credible, and the Crown failed to prove she didn’t consent to the sexual activity she said occurred against her consent.
Carroccia’s decisions marked the end of a trial that saw two juries being discharged, and took many twists and turns in attracting interest from around the world.
In reaching her decisions, she spent hours recounting all of the evidence heard at the trial, focusing on memory gaps and discrepancies between E.M.’s evidence this year and her civil lawsuit against Hockey Canada in 2022.
After the decisions were handed down, Carroccia told the five former players — who all at one time had NHL careers — that they were free to go.
Defence lawyers called the ruling a “vindication,” “exoneration” and foregone conclusion based on the evidence.
In a statement, E.M. said the judge’s decision was devastating.
More to come
