Five hockey players found guilty in Canadian sexual assault

Ontario judges were acquitted Thursday, and all five Canadian hockey players accused of sexual assault on women were acquitted.

In a court filled with courts, Justice Maria Carroccia reviewed the testimony and evidence of the eight-week trial within hours of declaring the men not guilty.

The former player of the Canadian World Youth Hockey Team has been accused of assaulting the woman, known as EM, who played Canadian hockey in a hotel room in London, Ontario in 2018.

Judge Carroccia said she found no evidence of EM “reliable or reliable”. She added: “The royal family cannot meet its responsibility for any charges before me”.

The central question of the trial was whether Em, who was 20, at the time, agreed to every sexual act in the room that night.

The player’s lawyer argued that she asked the man to have sex with her and they thought she agreed.

Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton and Carter Hart are all NHL players, despite the charges surfaced, despite one playing in Europe. Mr. Hart had only one testified in his own defense.

The trial has attracted great attention in Canada, so many people heard Thursday’s ruling in court that clerks had to open two additional spillrooms.

In explaining her ruling, Justice Carroccia pointed out that EM’s testimony was inconsistent, including who purchased the drink that night, and said EM’s statements reflected “uncertain memory”, which was not consistent with the evidence at the trial.

The judge said the woman told police investigators that were different from Canadian hockey investigators, who resolved a lawsuit of 3.5 million Canadian dollars ($2.5 million; £1.9 million) in 2022.

Two videos from the incident were shared at the trial, in which EM was recorded in the event. The first one was taken without knowing it.

Under Canadian law, the video did not confirm the consent, and the judge said they did show em “very normal speaking, smiling,” she “looks in no danger”. This weakens the argument that the royal family did not leave the room out of fear, she said.

It is unclear whether the authorities will appeal the ruling, and prosecutor Meaghan Cunningham said in a statement that they will carefully review the decision. She also said they received “dozens of information from people in Canada and abroad” and expressed their gratitude and support to EM.

“Successful prosecution is not just measured by a verdict of guilt or not,” she said. “The goal of the royal family throughout the process is to see a fair trial, a fair trial for the accused, and a fair one.”

Throughout the trial, officials believed that the woman’s testimony was credible, “intoxicated and unequal”, and that any contradiction in her testimony was secondary.

They also argued that the woman had no motive for a story, and she initially reported the alleged assault to police in 2018, four years before the Canadian hockey lawsuit was filed.

They added that text messages between players allegedly indicated that Mr McLeod’s idea was to invite teammates to the room, and the players allegedly engaged in a “right-bright story” by drafting a narrative that EM agreed to all sexual behavior.

However, defense attorneys believe that EM’s testimony was damaged by witness evidence, and that night, other players in the hotel room but not accused said she was “voice” for the sex she wanted.

They said the evidence showed that the woman was a willing participant and later regretted, adding that in this case, intoxication did not mean “powerless”, submitting video evidence that EM showed no signs of extreme intoxication.