A courtroom sketch of Justice Maria Carroccia presiding over the sexual assault trial of five former Team Canada junior hockey players. April 24, 2025. (Source: A mistrial has been declared in the high-profile sexual assault case against five former junior hockey players. “I’m sorry to have to tell you I’ve declared a mistrial in this case,” said Justice Maria Carroccia. “As a result of that, this jury is going to be discharged, you are free to go.” Just before 10:30 a.m., court went on a short recess, after which a new jury will be selected with a new trial scheduled to begin later today. A mistrial is a trial that is not successfully completed due to a significant error or problem that prevents a fair verdict from being reached. Carroccia ruled that media may report on her ruling but may not publish more details about the decision - a media consortium is challenging that publication ban. The trial of Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Cal Foote got underway earlier this week but jurors were dismissed early on Wednesday after the judge said something had come up that needed to be discussed with the lawyers. The players have pleaded not guilty to an alleged incident that took place in a hotel room in the city in June 2018. The trial is expected to last about eight weeks.