Analyzing Justice Maria Carroccia’s Hockey Canada verdict

A judge who found the complainant in the Hockey Canada trial to be untruthful in a ruling that acquitted five former junior players of sexual assault has come under strong criticism, after a judgment starkly at odds with a growing public emphasis on believing women.

But Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia is also being praised as brave for calling it as she saw it in her 91-page written decision on Thursday, despite a potentially hostile public reception.