The high-profile trial against five former Canadian NHL players came to an abrupt end on Friday after the judge declared a mistrial. Jury selection for the new trial will begin Friday.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia informed jurors Friday morning that they were being discharged. No reason for the mistrial has been reported because of a standard legal ban against publicizing trial proceedings that occur without a jury.
A new trial will be held for the five players that a woman—identified in court documents only as E.M.—has sued for sexual assault. She alleges the players intimidated her into sexual acts without her consent in a London, Ontario, hotel room in 2018. The alleged assault took place after a Hockey Canada gala that celebrated the team’s world juniors victory.
The victim willingly went back to the hotel with one player and had consensual sex, according to the claim, but he then invited multiple teammates into the room. In her statement, she claimed the players intimidated her with golf clubs and forced her to record videos saying she consented to the acts. A day later, the woman’s then-stepfather reported the allegations to Hockey Canada and she also contacted police.
Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, and Michael McLeod were all members of Canada’s 2018 gold-medal-winning juniors team and have all been charged with one count of sexual assault.
McLeod has an additional sexual assault charge from the same alleged incident for “being a party to the offense.” Prosecutors have said the additional charge is “in relation to adding someone else.” He has pleaded not guilty to that charge, too. All five defendants later played in the NHL, though none are currently on active rosters. They have all pleaded not guilty and would face up to 10 years in prison if convicted, though McLeod’s sentence could be longer because of the additional charge (he could also serve both sentences concurrently). None of the defendants have a criminal record, which could shorten any potential sentence.
The trial began Tuesday with jury selection and on Wednesday with the prosecution’s first witness briefly taking the stand before their testimony was put on hold for legal arguments that were conducted without a jury.
Before Friday’s announcement, the trial was expected to take eight weeks and include the testimony of multiple current NHL players. Cale Makar (Colorado), Sam Steel (Dallas), Jonah Gadjovich (Florida), Drake Batherson (Ottawa), Robert Thomas (St. Louis), Brett Howden (Vegas), and Taylor Raddysh (Washington) were all named on the prosecutor’s list of potential witnesses. They are also all currently playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The trial took more than five years to reach its apex because of prior investigations. Both Hockey Canada and Ontario police ended their investigations in February 2019 without charges. But in 2022, it was reported that E.M. reached a $3.5 million settlement in a civil lawsuit with Hockey Canada over the incident. The settlement led Hockey Canada and police to reopen their investigations, leading to the five players being charged in early 2024.
