Alex Formenton was barely 18 years old and on the verge of a promising professional hockey career that came to a screeching halt on June 18, 2018, after what was meant to be a night of celebration with his coaches and teammates.
For the last seven years, he has lived under a dark cloud. The public now knows what Alex has always maintained: that he is innocent of this false allegation – but only after his case erupted into a massively publicized social cause.
Alex’s face has appeared on millions of screens and newspaper pages. There can be little doubt that an untold number of people believed he was guilty simply because he had been accused of a crime, long before any evidence was presented in court.
This rush to judgment – to believe the worst of people – is one of the most regrettable of human traits. So, too, is our reluctance to change that opinion, even when it is proved wrong after a full and fair trial.
Notwithstanding Justice Carroccia’s unequivocal exoneration of Alex, there will inevitably be those who will still believe that he committed a crime.
Nobody in room 209 that night has emerged unscarred. The criminal court process is a bruising experience for anyone, but never more than when a case is a high profile and incorporates such high stakes.
In Alex’s case, he was condemned and felt banished from society. This experience has been crushing. Nevertheless, the impact of this case has changed Alex as a person and has matured him well beyond his years. It is inevitable that some people will not forgive Alex for what he was accused of doing. Others, however, will understand that this tragic matter rightly comes to an end today.
Alex has never minimized his role in this sexual encounter or denied engaging in consensual sex with the complainant. He fully cooperated with the police investigation and provided investigators with an honest account of the events that unfolded in his hotel room back in 2018.
Alex’s narrative is not conjecture. His police statement was corroborated at trial by several Crown witnesses, by video evidence, and was even supported in large measure by the complainant’s own testimony.
While no police investigation is perfect, the London Police got it right seven years ago by deciding it would be a mistake to charge Alex. The evidence always demonstrated that he did not commit a sexual assault. However, political and media pressure brought this allegation back into the spotlight in 2022 and the Crown Attorney knowingly forged ahead with a hopeless prosecution.
Besides the human toll to everyone involved, this lengthy legal proceeding exhausted scarce police and court resources that could have been redirected elsewhere to support our already overburdened justice system.
Alex, his family, and his defence team are grateful to Justice Carroccia for carefully considering all the evidence presented at this trial with an open mind. She has reached a just and correct verdict that must be respected.
Nobody disputes that sexual assault is a terrible, societal plague, and Alex sincerely hopes that this prosecution does not stop the quest to combat sexual violence and to bring genuine offenders to justice.
However, an accusation is just that – an accusation. This case stands for the fact that we must never lose sight of the fundamental right to be presumed innocent.
Now more than ever before, a fair response to sexual assault claims requires a balanced perspective and public trust in the decision making of the courts. Anything less only harms the justice system, and the cause of eliminating sexual violence.
Sincerely,
Daniel Brown & Hilary Dudding.
About Daniel Brown Law LLP:
For two decades, we have represented organizations and individuals in criminal litigation at trial and on appeal. Our firm has repeatedly been recognized as one of Canada’s top criminal law boutiques by Canadian Lawyer Magazine and nationally ranked as one of Canada’s best criminal defence firms by Best Lawyers. We remain dedicated to superior advice and advocacy using the same innovation and dedication on which our firm was founded. We regularly appear before trial courts across the province, the Court of Appeal for Ontario, and the Supreme Court of Canada on complex, serious, and precedent-setting cases.