Canada Junior team trial: “I can’t find the proof provided by the complainant credible or reliable,” said the judge

The judge began, on Thursday morning, reading her highly anticipated judgment in the case of the five former team players Junior accused of having sexually assaulted a young woman in a London hotel room in 2018.

“I can’t find the proof provided by EM [la plaignante] Credible or reliable, ”said judge Maria Carroccia immediately.

She then added that “the crown was not discharged from its obligation to prove out of any reasonable doubt” the accusations.

Some accused seemed, at that time, to sigh in relief in the room and turned to their family.

The judge then began to review the testimony of the complainant, stressing certain inconsistencies as she read.

The Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex formenton, Cal Foteon and Dillon Dubé hockey players are each in front of an accusation for having sexually assaulted a woman who was 20 years old, at the end of a watered evening in June 2018.

The players were then in London on the sidelines of an event organized to underline their conquest of the gold medal at the World Junior Hockey Championship, a few months ago.

McLeod also faces an additional accusation of complicity in sexual assault.

Demonstrators

Judge Maria Carroccia began reading her verdict shortly after 10:25 a.m. in this highly publicized trial, at the London courthouse.

The procedures which will have taken place for more than two months were tumultuous and marked by an abortion of trials and the dissolution of the jury.

Nearly a hundred supporters of the alleged victim were in front of the courthouse, brandishing signs.

Their slogans have become stronger as the five accused and their lawyers entered the court.

Men were also present to display their support for the accused. “Stay strong,” shouted one of them, said the CBC media.

Consent in play

Recall that the notion of consent was found at the heart of the highly publicized trial. The complainant had testified for nine days in total. She said she was assaulted repeatedly and had the impression of being “imprisoned” in the room.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen to me if I said no,” she said. I let my body do what it had to stay safe, ”she said.

In its final pleadings, the crown deplored the fact that the opposing party used “myths and stereotypes” to try to discredit its story and that it was practically criticized for not having acted as the “perfect victim”.

Defense wanted to demonstrate that it would have been consenting. Throughout the trial, players present in the room came to tell that it was rather she who begged them to have sex.