Hockey Canada trial verdict and live updates: Judge to deliver ruling in sexual assault case Thursday – The Athletic – The New York Times

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The Hockey Canada sexual assault trial comes to its conclusion today as the judge will deliver a ruling this morning in London, Ont.
Five players — Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Dillon Dubé, Alex Formenton and Cal Foote — are all charged with sexual assault after an alleged incident in June 2018 in which a 20-year-old woman said she was sexually assaulted over a span of hours by the players in a London, Ont., hotel room. All five players pleaded not guilty.
Follow along as our writers provide news and updates regarding the verdict.
Both juries were dismissed following complaints from jurors that defense counsel had acted inappropriately. In the first incident, Justice Carroccia declared a mistrial when a juror alleged improper communications between one of the defense attorneys and a juror during a lunch break. In the second incident, the judge dismissed the jury but did not declare a mistrial.
That’s because when defense attorneys initially asked for a mistrial, they also proposed continuing the trial in front of Carroccia alone.
“All five defendants will be asking for a mistrial,” Megan Savard, who spoke for the defense, told the court. “However, with the Crown’s consent … we would be prepared to reelect and continue the trial in front of your Honor.”
Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham argued that an inquiry into the juror complaint would be a sufficient way forward and raised concerns that the Crown had presented much of its evidence with a jury — not a judge alone — in mind. But the Crown accepted the defense’s proposal to move forward with a judge-alone trial. That decision spared the complainant from a return to the witness box, where she was questioned over nine days, and where she’d have to recount it all again in front of a new jury.
“The judge has heard all the facts so far,” said criminal defense lawyer Sam Goldstein. “Rather than declare a mistrial and start the whole thing over again, one of the remedies is (continuing) judge alone.”
Criminal defense lawyer Nikolas Lust said avoiding a mistrial was the most appropriate course of action, both in considering E.M.’s testimony and court resources.
In reacting to the decision to dismiss the jury a second time, Cunningham said that the Crown was faced with two “undesirable options,” but would “obviously prefer the one that doesn’t cause further harm, or doesn’t further traumatize (E.M.).”
That the trial proceeded by judge alone meant that Carroccia heard the remaining testimony and evidence and that none of the testimony or evidence that was previously presented in front of the jury would need to be reintroduced.
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By Katie Strang and Dan Robson
They arrived in London, Ontario, on June 17, 2018, nearly two dozen young men from all over Canada. They were almost five months removed from a gold medal run at the 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, an achievement that the Globe and Mail called Canada’s “hockey glory of the year.”
“Drink it in, Canada,” a story about the triumph began.
They descended upon London from some of the country’s hockey hotbeds, but also its leafy suburbs and far-flung prairie towns, minted royalty coming to a place that, even for Canada, embraces hockey heroes with fervor.
London sits an hour east of the U.S. border just north of Lake Erie. It has 400,000 residents but can feel smaller or larger, depending on the time of year. As many as 45,000 students, most attending Western University, make the city home during the school year. It is also a hockey mecca. The London Knights, a powerhouse junior program, average 9,000 fans a game at Budweiser Arena — an attendance that rivals some NHL teams. In the restaurants and bars downtown, the jerseys of former Knights players hang on the walls.
The players, the World Juniors champions, were brought to London as part of the Hockey Canada Foundation Gala & Golf event. It was a two-day “star-studded” celebration to recognize the champions and others, and it included a lavish dinner and a golf event in which many of the players would participate. Some Hockey Canada executives also attended, as did sponsors and corporate partners, local business leaders and more. Hockey Canada would use the weekend to raise money, and the players were an attraction that would help open wallets.
Most of them would stay at the Delta Hotel London Armouries, the most luxurious accommodation in town. It’s a sleek glass-paneled high-rise that emerges from an imposing sienna-bricked building flanked by turrets and framed by crenelated towers. The original structure, built in 1905, served as a militia headquarters for Canadian land force branches. Suspended in the glass arch above the lobby entrance is an antique cannon.
As the players arrived at the hotel and prepared for the festivities, many undoubtedly were excited about the gala but also eager for what might come after, when Hockey Canada’s leadership headed back to the hotel to sleep. These were young men in a town filled with college students. Sure, they would soak in the adulation at the official festivities, but the real fun would come at the bars on Richmond Street, where beers are poured into plastic cups, where early 2000s hip hop and dance music is played loud, where they would be surrounded by their peers, feeling like the lords of London.
Read more below.
GO FURTHER
One night in London: Allegations of sexual assault and a reckoning for Hockey Canada
All five members of the 2018 national junior team went on to play in the NHL over the five-plus years between when the alleged assault occurred and when they took leaves of absence from their respective teams after being told to surrender to police in January 2024. All of their NHL contracts have since expired.
Alex Formenton, 25, was a former star with the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights before being drafted in 2017 by the Ottawa Senators. He was playing in Switzerland after failing to reach an agreement on a new contract with the Senators in December 2022. In November, Formenton filed a $20.5 million lawsuit against his former representatives alleging negligence, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty.
Carter Hart was arguably the biggest star on the 2018 world junior team and had long been viewed as a franchise NHL goaltender. He was the No. 1 goalie for the Philadelphia Flyers when the team announced Hart would be taking an indefinite leave of absence, citing personal reasons.
Dillon Dubé was the captain of the 2018 world junior team and had established himself as a full-time member of the Calgary Flames. In August, he signed a one-year contract with Dinamo Minsk in the Kontinental Hockey League.
Cal Foote, 26, is the son of Hockey Hall of Fame defender Adam Foote. He had been a fringe NHL player over the course of his career and spent the majority of the 2023-24 season in the minor leagues before taking a leave of absence.
Michael McLeod, 27, was in his fifth season with the New Jersey Devils and, like Dubé, has played the 2024-25 season in the KHL while awaiting trial.
All five players have said through lawyers that they are innocent.
By Katie Strang and Dan Robson
Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote are all charged with sexual assault after an alleged incident in June 2018 in which E.M. — whose identity is protected by a publication ban — has said she was sexually assaulted over the span of several hours in a London, Ont., hotel room. The players were in town for a Hockey Canada event celebrating their 2018 World Junior Championship victory.
McLeod is also facing a second charge for “being a party to the offense” for what the Crown has asserted was his role “assisting and encouraging his teammates to engage sexually” with E.M.
All five players pleaded not guilty.
The court session during which the decision will be announced is expected to begin at 10 a.m. ET. That's 7 a.m. PT.
Like the entire Hockey Canada sexual assault trial, the judge's decision on the case will be delivered in London, Ontario. Justice Maria Carroccia will read the decision at the Ontario Court of Justice courthouse in London.
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Hello and welcome to The Athletic's live coverage of the verdict in the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial.
Following eight weeks of testimony, evidence and submissions, the judge will announce a decision today. Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote are all charged with sexual assault after an alleged incident in June 2018 in which E.M. — whose identity is protected by a publication ban — has said she was sexually assaulted over the span of several hours in a London, Ont., hotel room. All five players pleaded not guilty.
Follow along our live updates leading up and after the decision is announced.

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