WARNING: This article references alleged sexual assault and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone impacted by it.
Five former world junior hockey players on Thursday were found not guilty of sexual assault, prompting a wave of reaction — including from the NHL and the league’s players’ association — and a scathing rebuke from defence lawyers about how Hockey Canada handled the accusations.
Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia spent over five hours recounting the evidence before handing down the rulings in London, Ont., court. Only select media were allowed in the main courtroom, due to the overwhelming number of people jockeying to get a seat, while others were directed to an overflow room.
After providing her reasons for finding Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote not guilty, Carroccia told the court: “The accused are free to go.”
The eight-week trial, which ended with closing submissions in mid-June, attracted intense interest from around the world.
Within hours of the rulings, the NHL said the five men will remain ineligible to play in the league pending a review. All five were members of the 2018 world junior championship team and had at some point played in the NHL.
The allegations made in this case, even if not determined to have been criminal, were very disturbing and the behaviour at issue was unacceptable. We will be reviewing and considering the judge’s findings. While we conduct that analysis and determine next steps, the players charged in this case are ineligible to play in the league.– NHL statement
“The allegations made in this case, even if not determined to have been criminal, were very disturbing and the behaviour at issue was unacceptable,” the NHL statement said. “We will be reviewing and considering the judge’s findings. While we conduct that analysis and determine next steps, the players charged in this case are ineligible to play in the league.”
The NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA), however, contends otherwise.
“After missing more than a full season of their respective NHL careers, they should now have the opportunity to return to work,” the NHLPA said in a statement Thursday evening. “The NHL’s declaration that the players are ‘ineligible’ to play pending its further analysis of the court’s findings is inconsistent with the discipline procedures set forth in the collective bargaining agreement. We are addressing this dispute with the league and will have no further comment at this time.”
The five men had pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room in June 2018 while the team was in London for a Hockey Canada gala. McLeod also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge, of being a party to the offence.
All five former players with Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team have been found not guilty of sexual assault. The Crown will ‘carefully review’ Justice Maria Carroccia’s decisions, but Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham said prosecutors won’t have any further comments ‘as this case is still within the appeal period.’
Within 20 minutes of court clearing, assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham became the first lawyer to address the media outside the courthouse, first thanking E.M. for coming forward.
Cunningham stressed the Crown wanted to see a fair trial, for both the complainant and the five accused men.
“A successful prosecution is not measured solely by whether or not there are guilty verdicts at the end,” she said.
“A fair trial is one where decisions are made based on the evidence and the law, not stereotypes and assumptions, and where the trial process respects the security, equality and privacy rights of the victim as well as the persons charged.”
The Crown will “carefully review” Carroccia’s decisions, said Cunningham, noting prosecutors won’t have any further comments “as this case is still within the appeal period.”
Lawyer criticizes Hockey Canada
Lawyers for the five men stressed how the case has impacted the lives of the five men.
Among the reactions in the courtroom as Carroccia addressed the court, Hart’s mother and McLeod’s parents and brother wept as the judge said she didn’t believe the Crown had met its burden to prove the facts of sexual assault beyond a reasonable doubt.
“For years, public perception was shaped by a one-sided narrative from a civil lawsuit that went unchallenged, in large part because Hockey Canada settled the claim without informing or consulting the players,” David Humphrey, McLeod’s lawyer, told reporters outside the courthouse.
“The decision was made unilaterally and the players were only told of the lawsuit and the settlement after the fact. Had they been consulted, they would have refused to settle and they would have vigorously contested E.M.’s allegations.”
The complainant’s civil lawsuit against Hockey Canada, and the subsequent settlement for an undisclosed sum, came to light in 2022 after reporting by TSN. The news prompted the London Police Service to reopen the investigation they had closed in early 2019, leading to the charges against the five men.
“That version of events dominated headlines and created a lasting and a false impression of guilt. It was only through this criminal trial that the allegations were fully and finally tested,” Humphrey said, refusing to answer questions about whether his client may sue Hockey Canada.
Judge cites ‘inconsistencies’ in testimony
From the outset of Thursday’s proceedings, Carroccia suggested which way her rulings would go.
She said she found E.M.’s testimony was largely not “credible” or “reliable,” and believed the men’s version of events — that E.M. wanted them to go to McLeod’s hotel room after the two had consensual sex, and that she acted as the sexual aggressor, egging on the men and demanding they have sex with her.
Carroccia detailed “inconsistencies” in E.M.’s testimony — including in what she told Hockey Canada investigators in 2022 and what she told police in 2018 — and said she didn’t believe E.M. was too drunk or too scared to consent to the sexual encounters with each of the men.
Humphrey’s address to the media kickstarted a wave of defence lawyer responses to the rulings.
Formenton’s lawyer, Dan Brown, said his client has “lived under a dark cloud” for the last seven years, even more so after “political and media pressure brought this allegation back into the spotlight in 2022” and the Crown “knowingly forged ahead with a hopeless prosecution.”
Hart’s lawyer, Megan Savard, said her client had been open to participating in restorative justice, willing to be “publicly named and prepared to use his public platform to teach other athletes about how to ensure their sexual encounters are responsible and thoughtful.”
“Instead of pursuing restorative justice, the Crown forced a distressing and unnecessary trial to the detriment of Mr. Hart, his co-defendants, the complainant and the Canadian public,” Savard said.
Allison Forsyth, a safe sports advocate with Generation Safe and a sexual abuse survivor, says she’s ‘scared’ of what the acquital of five former Hockey Canada world junior players means for how sports organizations deal with allegations of sexual assault and harrassment in the future.
Decisions ‘devastating’ for E.M.
As they have been throughout the trial, supporters of E.M. were steadfast outside the courthouse Thursday, holding signs and making their voices known, sometimes while lawyers were addressing the media.
Karen Bellehumeur, lawyer for the complainant, said E.M. watched Carroccia deliver her decision via video and was “very disappointed” in the outcome.
“She’s really never experienced not being believed like this before,” but is grateful for the support she has gotten from across the country.
“I expect many people understand that when a person summons the courage to disclose their story, the worst possible outcome is to feel disbelieved,” Bellehumeur said. “It’s a gutting experience that no one deserves. That’s why today’s verdict is so devastating.”
E.M. wanted to “stand up for herself and others who have had similar experiences. She felt that the sexual violence she experienced should not be concealed.”
Bellehumeur said E.M.’s treatment during nine days of testimony and cross-examination was at times “insulting, unfair, mocking and disrespectful, none of which was necessary.”
The justice system worked how it was supposed to, by “aggressively” protecting the rights of the accused, but that should not come at the expense of complainants’ well-being, Bellehumeur said, adding E.M. hopes people are not deterred from coming forward with their own stories.
If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. For support in your area, you can look for crisis lines and local services via the Ending Sexual Violence Association of Canada database.
