Episode 4: Not Guilty

The Defendants Podcast

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-20:36

Episode 4: Not Guilty

What does it mean to be found Not Guilty?

Jane Aster Roe

Jun 11, 2026

In episode 4 we’re looking at what it takes to get a verdict of Guilty or Not Guilty and what it means.

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The Defendants is a podcast exploring how sexual assault cases move through the justice system… and why it never seems to work in favour of victims. We want to know what has to change within the system for it to actually work, and we are interrogating what justice means in the aftermath of trauma. This is a podcast where we figure out exactly how this system fails, why, and what to do about it.

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SHOW NOTES:

Key Topics

1:00 - The numbers: 2 guilty verdicts out of 1,000 assaults
1:25 - Guilty vs not guilty: what the terms mean
1:42 - Beyond all reasonable doubt
4:03 - Narratives that can be created around facts
6:04 - What is considered evidence?
7:32 - Why do prosecutors drop cases?
9:04 - The odds of winning sexual assault cases
10:48 - Jury bias, victim performance, trauma from trial
13:27 - Speedy trial law and stayed charges
16:35 - When the legal outcome doesn’t match evidence of harm

Resources:

SA Survivor Resource Document - This document contains Canadian, U.S, and Global sources to find guidance, information, and aid for survivors of sexual assault. Detailed descriptions of each resource within the document.

The following links are core references and sources for this episode.

Quote sources:

“2 in 1000” Breakdown: How We Arrived at Our Example

“60 victims will report. 940 will not.”

This number comes from the average of 94% of people not reporting their sexual assaults to the police meaning that only 6% of assaults are reported. 6% of 1000 is 60.

“20 reports will lead to criminal charges.”

Sourced from 33% of cases reported to police on average result in charges.

“4 charges make it to trial. 16 will be dropped by prosecutors”.

In this report, 80% of reports are dismissed. 80% of 20 is 16, 4 remain.

“2 trials will result in a guilty verdict.”

50% of cases that make it to trial get a guilty verdict.

“Guilt, shame, and there’s not a lot of faith in the system (it’s estimated that only 6% of sexual assaults in Canada are reported to police).”

Recent trends in police-reported clearance status of sexual assault and other violent crime in Canada, 2017 to 2022 by Shana Conroy

“In 2022/2023 out of 5541 sexual assault cases brought to Canadian prosecutors, 623 resulted in a guilty verdicts, including guilty pleas, 413 resulted in a not guilty verdicts and 4437 were stayed or withdrawn which is 80.07% of cases.”

Integrated Criminal Court Survey, 2022/2023

“Marsha Lederman wrote this article where she said in sex crime trials the legal outcome doesn’t always match the evidence of ugly behaviour.”

Marsha Lederman article