Justice Maria Carroccia is shown in this courtroom sketch from London, Ont., delivering her ruling in the sexual assault trial for five former members of Canada’s world junior hockey team, on Thursday.Â
Judge acquits all 5 former Hockey Canada players in sex assault trial: Read the full decision
Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia said she did not find the testimony of the complainant “to be either credible or reliable,” and the Crown “cannot meet its onus on any of the counts before me.”
Justice Maria Carroccia is shown in this courtroom sketch from London, Ont., delivering her ruling in the sexual assault trial for five former members of Canada’s world junior hockey team, on Thursday.Â
One of the most watched criminal cases in recent memory has ended with acquittal for all five ex-NHL players, who were accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a London, Ont., hotel room in 2018.
The verdicts in the Hockey Canada trial, read in a nearly five-hour marathon on Thursday by Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia, came after months of testimony and years of public litigation over allegations that had captured the country’s attention and sparked a reckoning about the handling of sexual misconduct in professional sports.
Carroccia said she did not find the testimony of E.M., the complainant whose identity is shielded by a publication ban, “to be either credible or reliable,” and the Crown “cannot meet its onus on any of the counts before me.”
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Read Carroccia’s full decision below:
Mark Colley is a ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½-based general assignment reporter for
the Star. Reach him via email: mcolley@thestar.ca
