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Five Canadian hockey players accused of sexual attacks on a woman were justified by Judge Ontario on Thursday.
In the crowded courtroom, Justice Maria Karachi considered the testimony and evidence from a highly advertised eight -week trial for hours before announcing men who are not guilty.
Former Canadian Junior hockey players have been accused of attacking a woman known as EM, in the 2018 hotel room in London, Ontario, where they participated in Hockey Canada.
The corach’s justice stated that she would not find the evidence of Emma “reliable or reliable”. She added that “the Crown could not meet her strength on one of the points in front of me.”
The central number of the trial was whether it was an em that was 20 years old at the time, agreed to the room every night.
The players’ lawyers claimed that she had asked men to have sex with her, and they believed she agreed.
Michael Macleod, Dilon Dub, Cal Foot, Alex Forman and Carter Hart were players from the National Hockey League (NHL) when the charges floated, though one played in Europe. Only one, Mr. Hart testified in his defense.
The court attracted considerable attention in Canada, and so many people were present in court to hear the ruling on Thursday that Clerkas had to open two additional overflow numbers.
Having explained her ruling, Justice Kurach pointed to the inconsistencies in the testimony of the EM, including who bought drinks that night, and stated that the statements EM reflect “uncertain memory”, which did not make the evidence presented in the trial.
There were differences in the fact that the woman told the police investigators and hockey Canada, which resolved 3.5 million dollars ($ 2.5 million; 1.9 million pounds) for an undisclosed amount in 2022, the judge said.
Two videos from the incident were divided in the trial where EM recorded, which consent it to the activity. The first was taken without her knowledge.
While, under Canadian law, the video did not agree, the judge said they show that they were “talking normally, smiling” and that it seemed to be in trouble. ” This was cut off by the Crown argument that em did not leave the room out of fear, she said.
It is unclear whether the crown would appeal the ruling, and Prosecutor Megan Koninging said in a statement that they would carefully review the decision. She also said she received “dozens of messages from people across Canada and abroad”, expressing her gratitude and support.
“Successful persecution is not evaluated solely on whether there are guilty sentences at the end,” she said. “The purpose of the Crown throughout this case was to see a fair trial, a lawsuit that is fair to the accused men, and the one that is also fair to them.”
Throughout the trial, the Crown claimed that the woman’s testimony was reliable, that “alcohol intoxication is not unreliable” and that any contradictions were minor in her testimony.
They also claimed that the woman had no motive to create a story, and that she initially reported allegedly attacking the police in 2018, four years before fileing a claim against Hockey Canada.
They added that the text messages between the players allegedly showed that this idea of Mr. McLood would invite their teammates to the room, and that players allegedly engaged in “creating their history”, creating a story that UM agreed with all sexual activities.
However, defense lawyers claimed that the testimony of the EM was undermined by eyewitness testimonies, in which other players who were in the hotel room that night but were not accused, they said she was “vocal” that she wanted sexually.
They said the data suggested that the woman was a willing participant who later regretted, and added that alcohol into this case was not equal to “disability”, presenting videos that suggest that the UM did not show signs of extreme alcohol.
