Alex Formenton Acquittal and the Limits of a Verdict

Canadian public legal education | Updated September 16 2026

Cover graphic supplied by the author

The Alex Formenton acquittal returned a legal answer. It did not end the public argument. More than a year after an Ontario judge found Formenton and four other former world junior hockey players not guilty, the Edmonton Oilers' decision to sign him has placed the verdict back under intense media and public scrutiny.

The reaction raises a difficult question that Presumption of Innocence Canada examined earlier in What Does an Acquittal Restore. An acquittal ends the prosecution. It does not automatically restore a career, reputation, relationships, lost income or years of ordinary life. The renewed attention surrounding Formenton shows how limited a verdict can become when the public continues to treat the allegation as an unresolved referendum on character.

Why the issue returned

On September 9, 2026, the Edmonton Oilers announced that they had signed Formenton to a one-year contract worth US$850,000. He had been one of five former members of Canada's 2018 world junior team charged with sexual assault. All five were acquitted following an eight-week trial in 2025. The NHL later reinstated the players and made them eligible to return to play.

The signing drew immediate criticism. Mary Loewen, the longtime Oilers fan known as Mama Stanley, said she would no longer support the team while Formenton remained on its roster. Loewen identified herself as a survivor of sexual assault and said that her decision reflected her conscience and support for the woman at the centre of the case. A later petition called on the Oilers to reverse the signing while expressly stating that it did not challenge the verdict or declare Formenton guilty.

Loewen is entitled to decide which team she supports. Other fans, sponsors and community members may make their own decisions as well. The harder question is how those choices are reported and discussed when repeated moral condemnation begins to resemble a second, indefinite judgment that has no defined burden of proof and no point at which it ends.

What the court decided

The legal result must be described accurately. In R v McLeod et al 2025 ONSC 4319, Justice Maria Carroccia found all five accused not guilty. The court assessed the evidence relating to each accused individually and concluded that the Crown had not proven the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

An acquittal is not a technical footnote or a finding that the court simply could not choose between two equal accounts. It is the final verdict in the criminal proceeding. The accused leave court without a conviction, and the verdict cannot be replaced by a presumption of guilt.

At the same time, a criminal judgment does not order every member of the public to approve of the conduct described at trial, support an employer's decision or become a fan. The distinction matters. Personal disagreement with a hiring decision is different from asserting or implying that an acquitted person committed the crime.

The Alex Formenton acquittal and public judgment

The current discussion often begins with the words although he was acquitted. Grammatically, the verdict is acknowledged. In practice, it can be treated as a qualification to be moved past before the accusation is reconsidered in public.

This creates an uneven process. A criminal trial has rules of evidence, an identified burden of proof, legal representation and a judge required to give reasons. Public judgment may rely on headlines, excerpts, personal reactions or assumptions about what an acquittal supposedly means. It can continue without a complete record and without any obligation to address the court's findings.

None of this requires dismissing the experiences of survivors or silencing concern about sexual violence. Trauma-informed discussion and respect for the presumption of innocence can exist together. Respecting both requires careful language. People can support survivors, question institutional cultures and debate a team's values without converting an acquitted person back into a presumed offender.

What an acquittal restores

PIC's earlier article What Does an Acquittal Restore began with a simple point. Before someone becomes the accused, they are already a person. They may have a family, work, friendships, routines and a reputation formed over many years. A charge can disrupt all of them long before a verdict is reached.

An acquittal restores legal status. It ends the prosecution without a conviction. It may open the door to employment, travel, professional licensing or the rebuilding of relationships. It cannot return the years spent awaiting trial. It does not remove every headline, search result or social-media post. It cannot require former friends, employers or strangers to reconsider what they decided while the case was unresolved.

The NHL reinstated Formenton and restored his eligibility to work in the league. He has now received that opportunity. The reaction to his signing demonstrates that professional eligibility and public acceptance are separate. One may be restored by a legal or institutional decision. The other may remain contested indefinitely.

A personal view of what remains

In my own Substack article, I described what followed my not-guilty verdict. The trial ended, but administrative consequences did not automatically disappear. Beginning in 2022, lawyer Raymond Colautti assisted me in seeking removal from a registry. Requests stalled, hearings moved and the record remained. I was advised that my name would be removed only the day before a two-day hearing was scheduled to begin, without an adjudication or explanation.

That experience does not determine what should happen in Formenton's life, and the cases are not the same. It does explain why I pay attention when people speak as though an acquittal returns everything that was taken. The system eventually changed my status, but not when the verdict was delivered. Years of further work were required.

Read the personal Substack article When the system does not correct itself

The responsibility of media coverage

The media should report controversy surrounding a public team's roster decision. The Oilers are a major organization, Formenton is a public athlete and fans' reactions are newsworthy. Accuracy, however, requires more than adding the word acquitted before repeating the controversy.

Coverage should distinguish the court's findings from later opinion. It should not say that charges were dropped when the players were acquitted after a trial, an error that appeared in early versions of some syndicated coverage and was later corrected. It should also avoid language that leaves readers with the impression that the verdict was incomplete, provisional or erased by public disagreement.

Headlines and images shape understanding before many readers reach the full story. When an acquitted person is repeatedly presented through the accusation alone, the legal outcome becomes harder to see. That is why precise terms such as charged, tried, acquitted and reinstated matter.

Employment and public approval

The Oilers said they reviewed the legal proceedings, the NHL and Hockey Canada processes, spoke with Formenton and others, and were comfortable giving him an opportunity to return. Critics remain free to question that decision. A debate about organizational judgment is legitimate when it is identified as such.

What should be resisted is the idea that employment after acquittal requires the person to prove innocence again to each audience. Criminal law does not create a certificate of moral perfection. It does provide a binding answer to the charge before the court. If the presumption of innocence has meaning, an acquitted person cannot be expected to carry a permanent presumption that the verdict failed to resolve.

Questions for a more careful discussion

• Are we criticizing an employer's decision or implying that the acquitted person committed the offence
• Have we read the court's reasons or only commentary about the case
• Are legal findings and personal moral reactions clearly separated
• Is the language accurate about charges verdicts and institutional decisions
• What event if any would allow the person to stop being publicly tried

How Presumption of Innocence Canada may help

Presumption of Innocence Canada provides public legal education and moderated discussion groups for Canadian adults. PIC explains legal terminology and general court processes while creating space for respectful discussion about the personal effects of allegations, charges and acquittals.

PIC does not provide legal advice, representation, evidence review, individualized case assessment or determinations about guilt or innocence. Its resources do not replace advice from a qualified lawyer or the reasons issued by a court.

Frequently asked questions

Was Alex Formenton acquitted

Yes. Justice Maria Carroccia found Formenton and the four other accused not guilty on July 24, 2025, in R v McLeod et al 2025 ONSC 4319.

Does an acquittal mean the court found that nothing happened

An acquittal means the Crown did not prove the charged offence beyond a reasonable doubt. The court's reasons explain the evidence and findings. It should not be replaced by a broader claim that the judgment did not make.

Can fans criticize the Oilers for signing him

Yes. Fans may decide which teams or organizations they support. That freedom does not change the verdict or justify presenting criminal guilt as established.

Why is the Alex Formenton acquittal still being debated

His return to the NHL renewed public attention to the allegations, the trial and the Oilers' decision. Public attention can continue after a case ends even though the legal proceeding has concluded.

Did the charges get dropped

No. The five accused were tried and acquitted. Describing the charges as dropped is inaccurate.

Did the NHL allow Formenton to return

Yes. The NHL reinstated the five players and made them eligible to sign contracts and resume play subject to the dates announced by the league.

Does the presumption of innocence control private opinion

The presumption of innocence is a legal principle governing the criminal process. PIC also encourages careful public language so that opinion does not misstate a verdict or present unproven guilt as fact.

What can an acquittal restore

It restores the person's legal status by ending the prosecution without a conviction. Career opportunities and relationships may return, but lost time, income, privacy and reputation are not automatically restored.

Related educational resources

• What Does an Acquittal Restore
• The presumption of innocence in Canada
• Understanding the difference between an allegation a charge and a conviction
• Life after a criminal trial
• Media reporting and criminal proceedings

Suggested authoritative and current sources

• R v McLeod et al 2025 ONSC 4319
• CBC News report on Mama Stanley and the Formenton signing
• Sportsnet report on the petition and the Oilers response
• The Canadian Press report republished by CityNews
• Personal Substack article by Chris Fowler

Conclusion

The Alex Formenton acquittal restored his legal status and eventually allowed him to return to the NHL. It did not end the scrutiny attached to his name. Fans may make their own decisions about the Oilers, and survivors are entitled to speak about what the signing means to them. The public conversation should still respect the result reached after a full criminal trial.

The continuing controversy returns us to PIC's earlier question. What does an acquittal restore if the verdict is acknowledged but never allowed to matter? The presumption of innocence is easiest to defend before a difficult case tests it. Its real value appears in what happens after the court has spoken.

Educational disclaimer

This article provides general educational information only. It is not legal advice and does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Legal procedures and rights may vary by jurisdiction and individual circumstances. Anyone facing a legal matter should obtain advice from a qualified lawyer.

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