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For the officers — constables Leslie Nyznik, Sameer Kara and Joshua Cabero — the finding brings to an end an ordeal that saw them denied a preliminary hearing (the Ontario Attorney-General proceeded by way of direct indictment) and endure 30 months of the crushing publicity that is the modern norm.

They and a small group of family and friends hugged and wept with relief after the judge left the room.

Photo by Ernest Doroszuk/Postmedia Network/File; Peter J. Thompson/National Post

The officers have been on paid leave since their arrests, and their suspensions will be reviewed.

It is likely, with no outstanding Police Act charges hanging over them, the suspensions will be revoked and the three soon back on the job.

The judge made it clear that she wasn’t addressing the question of “whether they behaved admirably, or even ethically” that night, and that her only job was to determine whether she was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Crown prosecutors had proved that the woman either didn’t consent to the sex or that she lacked the capacity to consent, whether through alcohol or, as the woman suspected, a drugged drink.

In fact, as Molloy noted, Nyznik, the only one of the three to testify, “acknowledged many things that were not to his credit” — among them, the extent of “the free food and drinks and privileged treatment” given the police at the bars they attended; “his familiarity with the Brass Rail and its staff, showing him to be a frequent customer”; and “the shocking insensitivity and cruelty … of finishing with the complainant and then asking the other two men if they should still call” a hooker to come to the room.