Another Major Turn of Events in Sexual Assault Case Against 5 Former NHLers
For the second time since the sexual assault court case began against five former NHL players, the jury has been dismissed. Now the Judge will rule on the case, without a jury.
Justice Maria Carroccia has discharged the jury in the London hockey trial. Carroccia thanked the 14 jurors and dismissed them on Friday morning.
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) May 16, 2025
The trial will now continue by judge alone.
Developing story from @rwesthead: https://t.co/dUuToOsvhP
Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Carter Hart and Alex Formenton are all facing charges of sexual assault from an alleged incident at a Hockey Canada event while all five were playing with the Canadian World Junior Hockey Championship team in 2018.
All but Formenton were playing in the NHL before the charges were brought in early 2024. All took leave from their teams at the time (the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers), and their hockey futures are in doubt. McLeod, Dube and Foote had been playing in the KHL in Russia since last season until the trial began. Formenton had been playing in Switzerland.
According to reporter Rick Westhead of TSN, Justice Maria Carroccia discharged the jury today "after a juror complained that defence lawyers were acting unprofessionally, three weeks after a juror complaint about one of the same lawyers led to a mistrial" and the first jury was also dismissed.
Justice Carroccia was handed a note from one of the jurors on Thursday, as Westhead reports, that read, "Multiple jury members feel we are being judged and made fun of by lawyers [Daniel] Brown and Hilary Dudding. Every day when we enter the courtroom they observe us, whisper to each other and turn to each other and laugh as if they are discussing our appearance. This is unprofessional and unacceptable."
The case will now continue as a judge-alone trial, with Justice Carroccia hearing the rest of the evidence. She will be the one responsible for coming to a verdict.
