Verdict Expected in Hockey Canada Trial: Live Updates

A final verdict is being delivered in the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial.

A Bible and gavel are placed on a table during St. Clair County Circuit Judge Dan Damman's swearing-in ceremony Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020, in the St. Clair County Courthouse in Port Huron. / Brian Wells/Times Herald / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Justice Maria Carroccia of the London Ontario Superior Court is scheduled to deliver the final verdict in the highly publicized Hockey Canada sexual assault case today.

10:00am Court was postponed as the court set up a second overflow room for media and spectators. About 50 spectators are in the main courtroom. Among them are family members of the accused and approximately 15 members of the media.

10:24am Justice Carroccia began to summarize the events of the night and the cases put forth in the trial.

10:34am Carroccia has stated that she did not find the evidence put forward by E.M. to be "credible or reliable." She has concluded that the prosecution did not meet the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Upon Carroccia saying this, there were sighs of relief in the courtroom from the defense and their families. Michael McLeod’s parents and one of his brothers are crying. Carter Hart's mother is crying. Others of the accused turned to look at their families.

10:45am Carroccia is going over the evidence put forth by E.M. regarding the beginning of the night. She is pointing out inconsistencies between the testimony she gave police and the testimony she gave Hockey Canada investigators.

10:53am Carroccia is reading text messages from E.M. and recounting her version of the events of the night after she met McLeod at Jack's bar in London. E.M. had described feeling "shocked" and "surprised" when other players joined McLeod in the hotel room.

11:07am In her description of E.M.'s testimony, Carroccia says that E.M. was not forced to stay in the hotel room but was intimidated by the number of men in the hotel room, and that she was unsure how the men would react if she said no. She attempted to leave on multiple occasions but stayed because she was asked to stay.

11:19am Carroccia continues to summarize the evidence. E.M. called her friend crying after leaving the hotel room. E.M.'s mother called the police after hearing her crying in the shower, E.M. spoke to the police and then went to the hospital.

11:27am Carroccia is going over Exhibit 4, the messages between E.M. and McLeod. E.M. had told McLeod that she did not expect the other players to join them in the room at the hotel. Carroccia also went over the "consent videos" in which E.M. said "I'm okay with this" and "It was all consensual". By Carroccia's account, E.M. displayed no signs of intoxication.

11:40am The court will take a 15-minute recess. Carroccia will continue recounting the evidence and giving her reasons for her verdict following the break. A verdict still has yet to be delivered.

12:07pm Court has resumed, Carroccia is recounting the reasons for her decision. E.M. is reportedly watching the decision remotely.

12:16am Carroccia is discussing the testimony from Brett Howden, a teammate of the accused. Carroccia had refused to admit a text message into evidence, in which Howden described feeling relief that he left the hotel room when he did. Howden's text message included the sentiment that Dillon Dubé was "smacking" E.M.'s buttocks "so hard", "It looked like it hurt so bad."

12:34pm Carroccia is discussing Hart's testimony, a major moment in the trial. Hart was the only accused team member who testified in his own defense. He had stated that the events of the night were "difficult to remember." Hart testified that he had been unaware of the case settlement that occurred in 2022 until after the fact.

12:42pm Carroccia recounts Alex Formenton's interview with the London Police Department in 2018. He recalled McLeod taking videos of E.M. at the end of the night. He told police that E.M. instigated the events of the night.

12:49pm Carroccia is describing the interview McLeod gave to police in 2018. McLeod had discussed the consent videos and denied texting teammates to invite them to join him in the hotel room, claiming that they came looking for food. Dubé's 2018 interview followed. Carroccia relayed Dubé's claim that "if things were bad, he would have stopped and kicked the guys out."

1:00pm Carroccia has summarized the Crown's position that the "consent videos" do not constitute consent from E.M., and that McLeod made her record them because he knew the acts were not consensual. She has also stated the Crown's position that E.M.'s testimony is sound, and that the few inconsistencies were inconsequential.

1:07pm The Judge has summarized McLeod's defense's position, that E.M. is not credible or reliable and that E.M. did not engage in the acts of the night under duress.

1:16pm Carroccia described Formenton's defense's argument that E.M. was not incapacitated that night, and that she would have been able to consent under the circumstances.

1:21pm Summaries of Dubé and Foote's defenses followed, respectively. Dubé's lawyers argued that E.M. had engaged in brief, consensual oral sex with him that night. Foote's lawyers argued that Foote doing the splits had not constituted the "teabagging" alleged by the prosecution.

Carroccia went on to explain what the Crown would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt in order to find in E.M.'s favor; that there was nonconsensual touching that was sexual in nature.

1:37pm The court will take another 15-minute recess.

2:10pm Carroccia summarized the inconsistencies she has interpreted from E.M.'s testimony and interviews with police. She pointed out moments in the night when E.M. could have left.

“On several occasions the complainant referred to her evidence as ‘her truth’ instead of ‘the truth’ which seemingly blurs the line between what she believes to be true and what is objectively true,” Carroccia said.

2:26pm Carroccia said that E.M. “exaggerated her level of intoxication." She has taken the question of E.M.'s intoxication into account, but describes the evidence as inconsistent. Carroccia disagrees with the assertion that the group messages between the accused and their teammates were an attempt to "[concoct] a false narrative" of the events of the night.

2:40pm Carroccia began with the nonconsensual oral sex allegations made against Hart. Carroccia said she accepts the claims of the defense, that Hart asked and E.M. accepted. Carroccia does not believe that E.M.'s ability to consent was affected by fear.

2:42pm Hart has been found not guilty of sexual assault.

Formenton has been found not guilty of sexual assault.

Foote has been found not guilty of sexual assault.

Dubé has been found not guilty of sexual assault.

McLeod has been found not guilty of sexual assault.

This case is concluded.

The trial has attracted significant media attention due to Hockey Canada's role in the original settlement of the case, the prominent defendants and the broader implications for how consent is defined and interpreted in Canada's justice system.

The defense gave their closing arguments on June 9, following six weeks of testimony that concluded on June 3.

Five members of Canada's 2018 world junior hockey team were accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room while attending a Hockey Canada gala. The woman, known only as E.M. to protect her privacy, was 20 at the time.

The defendants — Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Michael McLeod — were accused of participating in nonconsensual acts with E.M. while she was intoxicated, after McLeod met her at a local bar and invited her to the hotel. The acts that followed have been well-documented. The defense has argued that E.M. was a willing participant in the events of the night.

The original case had been closed by the London Police Department in 2019, but was reopened due to a report that Hockey Canada had quietly settled the case in 2022. Detective Lindsay Ryan was responsible for reexamining the evidence at the time, and was called as the final witness in the trial. Ryan emphasized in her testimony that E.M. was "quite upset" to learn that the case was reopened when they spoke three years ago.

Of the accused, only Hart testified.

Messages from the team's group chat, which included teammates Drake Batherson, Jake Bean, Maxime Comtois, Brett Howden, Sam Steel and Tyler Steenbergen, were included in evidence. None of these team members have been accused of any wrongdoing. In the chat, the group had discussed their strategy for the investigation.

On May 16, Justice Carroccia dismissed the jury following accusations that attorneys for the defense had been laughing at jurors. The defense denied the behavior, but the jury was dismissed in an effort to preserve impartiality, and the trial continued by judge alone.

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