Crown in Hockey Canada sex assault trial for 5 ex-players won't appeal not guilty rulings

The Crown has decided not to appeal an Ontario Superior Court justice's July 24 not guilty decisions in the sex assault trial for five former world junior hockey players. 

The Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General has 30 days to file a notice of appeal of a judge or jury's rulings. 

Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia found Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote not guilty of sexual assaulting a woman in a London, Ont., hotel room in 2018. The team and hockey officials were in the city to celebrate Canada's world junior gold-medal won months earlier. 

For the eight-week trial, the complainant was referred to as E.M., as her identity is protected under a standard publication ban.

Jessie Rodger, who heads Anova, an London, Ont., organization that helps survivors of gender-based violence, said the Crown's decision serves as "another painful reminder of how deeply the legal system fails survivors of sexual assault over and over again."

"For once, it would have been powerful to see a part of the legal system stand up for women and all victims of sexual assault. That's what an appeal could have represented," Rodger said in a statement. "The decision not to appeal reinforces the same silence and dismissal survivors have faced for generations." 

Carroccia ruled that E.M.'s evidence was neither reliable nor credible and the Crown failed to prove she didn't consent to the sexual activity she said occurred against her consent. 

Formenton's lawyer, Dan Brown, told CBC News he was notified by the Crown earlier Thursday afternoon about the decision not to appeal.

Brown said he would not be making a statement about the decision. 

CBC News has reached out to lawyers who represented the other