Court hears legal arguments in sexual assault case against five hockey players

A judge in London, Ont., will hear legal arguments Monday in the sexual assault case against five members of Canada's 2018 junior world hockey team.

Dillon Dube, Carter Hart, Michael McLeod, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton were charged with sexual assault earlier this year in an incident that allegedly took place in the city in June 2018.

Receive national news daily

Get the day's top news, political, economic and current headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

McLeod also faces an additional charge of assault for being “party to the crime.”

Attorneys for the players have said their clients plan to defend themselves against the charges, and all five are expected to plead not guilty.

A jury trial is scheduled for April 22 next year.

Several weeks have already been set aside for legal arguments, but the issues discussed during those hearings cannot be reported at this time due to a publication ban intended to protect the suspect's right to a fair trial.