Flyers’ Carter Hart, ex-teammates with Hockey Canada opt for a jury trial in sexual assault case

Flyers goalie Carter Hart and his four codefendants will be tried together and have opted for a jury trial in their upcoming sexual assault case.

Hart, Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, and Michael McLeod have each been charged with one count of sexual assault following an incident at a hotel in London, Ontario, in June 2018. McLeod faces an additional charge for “being a party to the offense.” According to Det. Sgt. Katherine Dann of the London Police Department, the first charge “is in relation to his own actions and the party to the offense charge is in relation to aiding someone else in committing the offense.”

“Earlier this week, all five players selected a trial by jury and they are confident that jurors drawn from the community will decide this case fairly and impartially after hearing all the evidence and testimony,” read a joint statement from the lawyers.

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On Feb. 5, during a news conference announcing the formal charges, London police said the players met the victim at Jack’s, a bar in downtown London, following a Hockey Canada event celebrating their gold medal at the 2018 World Junior Championship. The victim went to a nearby hotel with one of the players and, on the morning of June 19, “This is where the offense took place,” the police said.

A family member of the victim contacted police that morning seeking advice and the next day a report was assigned to the sexual assault and child abuse section of the London Police Department. The victim cooperated and provided a statement within days of the alleged assault, but the initial investigation was closed in February 2019 without charges being filed.

It was reopened in July 2022 after the woman filed a statement of claim in April in which she alleged that those players intimidated her and sexually assaulted her over several hours while she was too intoxicated to provide consent. The claim, which was settled out of court the following month, sought $3.55 million in damages from Hockey Canada, the Canadian Hockey League, and eight unnamed players.

The police said at the news conference that more evidence and new information were discovered in the reopened investigation, leading to charges being filed.

“Our team explored investigative opportunities in addition to the 2018 investigation. Those leads were followed, additional witnesses were spoken to, and we collected more evidence,” Dann said.

“I can confirm that some of this evidence was not available when the investigation concluded in 2019. This is one investigation, not two. The evidence that was collected in 2018 and 2019 was used in combination with newly gathered evidence to form reasonable and probable grounds to charge these five individuals with sexual assault.”

Each player took a leave of absence from his respective team in late January. Formenton, a former member of the Ottawa Senators, is the only player who did not play in the NHL this season; he played in Europe. Dubé played for the Calgary Flames and McLeod and Foote for the New Jersey Devils.

On Jan. 23, Hart was granted an indefinite leave of absence from the Flyers, citing personal reasons. He is in the final year of a three-year, $11.937 million contract and is set to become a restricted free agent on July 1. The Flyers have been granted salary-cap relief from his contract.

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Hart, 25, has not been suspended by the NHL, but commissioner Gary Bettman was adamant when speaking at his annual news conference at the All-Star Game that he would not be playing any time soon.

“They’re all away from their teams on leave,” Bettman said. “And they’re all free agents. They won’t be under contract after the season anyway.”

Hart and his codefendants’ next court appearance is March 5.

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