Judge Dismisses Jury for Sexual Assault Trial of 5 Hockey Players After Jurors Claim Attorneys Made Fun of Them

The judge presiding over the trial of five Canadian hockey players who are accused of sexual assault has dismissed the jury.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia dismissed the jury on Friday, May 16, a day after one of the jury members submitted a note to the judge on behalf of other jurors, calling out the defense attorneys for their court behavior, according to CBC News, The Economic Times and ESPN.

The juror said in the note that two defense attorneys, identified as Daniel Brown and Hilary Dudding, appeared to “whisper to each other” and “laugh” as if they were discussing the juror’s “appearance,” which the jurors considered “unprofessional and unacceptable,” according to CBC News.

The two attorneys denied the allegations, per ESPN, and the defense stated that this was a “jury prejudice” and “needed to be resolved.” 

Justice Carroccia said she didn’t see any of this behavior and would have “stepped in” if she saw this. However, she concluded the jurors’ opinion of the defense could impact their impartiality when it came to the verdict, and that she would handle the high-profile case on her own. 

Defense lawyer Daniel Brown — who is representing hockey players Michael McLeod, Dillon Dubé, Carter Hart, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton — told CBC News in a statement that the incident was “an unfortunate representation of just two attorneys talking amongst themselves.” 

“No defense counsel would risk alienating a juror, and nothing could be further from the truth in this instance. While it is true that co-counsel will speak with one another from time to time during a trial, this is commonplace,” Brown said, per the outlet, “the very idea of counsel making light of a juror is illogical and runs directly counter to our purpose and function.”

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

The defense attorneys for the hockey players did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the latest trial development.

The five players were charged with the 2018 sexual assault of a then-20-year-old woman when they were members of Canada’s world junior hockey team. They have all pleaded not guilty to the crime.

The dismissal comes a few weeks after Carroccia declared a mistrial after a juror flagged that they were approached by Dudding at lunch and told them that she noticed them nodding their heads a lot during the prosecutor’s opening statement, per CBC News. Dudding reportedly denied this. 

The judge initially deemed the incident “innocuous” but eventually declared it a mistrial after the hockey player’s defense attorneys argued that the jury was already perceiving them negatively. A new jury was then chosen. 

The trial for McLeod, Dubé, Hart, Foote and Formenton will continue next week.