LONDON, Ont. — Calling into question the believability of the complainant’s testimony, a judge found all five former NHL players not guilty in a sexual assault trial here Thursday.
“I do not find the evidence of E.M. credible or reliable,” Ontario Supreme Court Justice Maria Carroccia told a packed and sweltering courtroom — and two full overflow rooms — near the beginning of her more than four-hour ruling. “Considering the evidence in this trial as a whole, I conclude that the Crown cannot meet its onus on any of the counts.”
Michael McLeod had been charged with one count of sexual assault, plus one count of being a party to the offences. Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton and Carter Hart were each charged with one count of sexual assault. All pleaded not guilty to their charges when the trial opened in April.
All were members of the Canadian world junior team that was given rings at a gala celebration June 17-19, 2018, in London.
The lawyer for E.M., as she is known because of a publication ban on her name, read a statement conveying her client’s reaction to the decisions.
“She’s obviously very disappointed with the verdict and very disappointed with Her Honour’s assessment of her honesty and reliability,” Karen Bellehumeur said in a scrum with reporters after the verdict. “She’s really never experienced not being believed like this before. … The justice system must do better.”
Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse after the verdict, assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham read a brief statement that included thanking E.M. for coming forward. Cunningham did not take questions because she said the “case is still within the appeal period.”
A conviction for sexual assault carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years, according to the Canadian Criminal Code. First-time offenders are more likely to be sentenced to about two years.
None of the players spoke to the media after the verdicts were rendered, but lawyers representing them did.
David Humphrey said Carroccia’s decisions were a “resounding vindication” for both McLeod and for the other players. Megan Savard said the Crown didn’t have to take this case to trial, calling it “a distressing and unfair trial to the detriment of Mr. Hart, his co-accused, the complainant and the Canadian public.”
Daniel Brown said the charges and trial have been a “crushing” experience for Formenton, but said Carroccia’s decision was an “unequivocal exoneration” after his client had been living under “a dark cloud” for seven years.
“At the start of this trial, Cal Foote walked into this courthouse an innocent man, and he walks out today exactly that,” Julianna Greenspan said. One of Dube’s lawyers, Julie Santarossa, called the ruling “a strong commitment to justice.”
It’s unclear if the acquitted players will be reinstated to play in the NHL — none of the players currently have contracts with teams in the league — but the league stated Thursday they would be ineligible to play while it reviews the judge’s findings. Previously, the NHL had said it would let the charges go through the legal system before deciding about the players’ eligibility.
“We will be reviewing and considering the judge’s findings,” the NHL’s statement read. “While we conduct that analysis and determine next steps, the players charged in this case are ineligible to play in the league.”
Carroccia doubted the veracity of E.M.’s testimony — which took place over her nine days — during which she had memory gaps and offered conflicting evidence about how much she had to drink, her inebriation and her claims that she could not leave Room 209 at the Delta Armouries in the early hours of June 19, 2018.
Carroccia said in her ruling that she couldn’t conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that E.M. had not given consent for each incident. Under Canadian law, consent cannot be granted if someone is inebriated or unconscious.
Carroccia said, while weighing her decisions around consent and other allegations by the Crown, that she put more credibility in the testimony of the players.
In separate video interviews conducted by London Police Service Detective Stephen Newton in 2018, McLeod and Formenton maintained the sex with E.M. was consensual. Carroccia said McLeod not mentioning sending texts to a group chat encouraging his teammates to come to his room for a “3 way” did not cause her to question his other statements to police.
In the first LPS investigation, Newton was not aware of the group chat, which was created in the days after the gala. Carroccia disagreed that the group-text chat was designed to “concoct” a story, as maintained by the Crown, and that the players were “recounting their recollections.”
In an audio interview with Dube, he did not mention a slap to E.M.’s buttocks that was testified as being seen by other witnesses. Carroccia ruled that it was not clear through evidence gathered during the trial nor through E.M.’s testimony who did the slapping, so she could not find beyond a reasonable doubt that Dube had done it.
The charge against Foote was based on the allegation by the Crown that he did the splits over E.M.’s face while naked. Carroccia said she believed witness testimony that Foote was clothed and did not touch E.M. while doing the splits.
The verdict brings to a close the eight-week trial that saw the dismissal of two juries, the first as a mistrial. The second dismissal, coming after E.M. had testified, resulted in Carroccia taking over matters in a judge-only trial.
The case came to mainstream attention when, in May 2022, a TSN report revealed that Hockey Canada had settled a civil lawsuit with a woman in London after she alleged she was sexually assaulted by eight men, including members of the 2018 Canadian men’s world junior team, following an event honouring the team in June 2018.
An investigation by LPS was launched that week and closed in February 2019, Newton concluding that there was insufficient evidence to lay charges.
After widespread scrutiny of Hockey Canada’s handling of the situation, including testimony by executives in front of a Parliamentary committee, London police reopened their investigation in July 2022, laying charges in January 2024.
London police Chief Thai Truong issued a statement to the media after the verdict was read, saying in part that he commended “the outstanding courage and strength shown by E.M. in coming forward and enduring this prolonged and difficult judicial process.”
