Crown won’t appeal hockey players’ acquittals on sex assault charges: defence lawyer

By Canadian Press on August 21, 2025.

A lawyer for one of five former world junior hockey players acquitted of sexual assault charges last month says the Crown will not be appealing the ruling.

Daniel Brown, who represented Alex Formenton, says he has been informed of the decision.

Formenton, Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote were all acquitted of sexual assault, and McLeod of a separate charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault.

The defence deemed the ruling a “resounding vindication,” while the complainant’s lawyer called it devastating.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia found the complainant’s testimony was not credible or reliable, and that there were “troubling aspects” in how she delivered some of her evidence about the 2018 encounter.

The judge said the complainant tended to blame others for inconsistencies in her narrative and exaggerated her level of intoxication that night.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2025.

The Canadian Press

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