Sept. 23--The scene opens with the face of a shocked mother home for lunch finding, wedged between the front doors, an evidence bag for a rape kit clearly labeled by name of the accuser -- who is the woman's daughter.
Imagine the expression, the emotion. It's a gripping image that would grab the attention of anybody who just sat down for a movie, except this was real life. This was the mother of the woman accusing Blackhawks star Patrick Kane of sexual assault. This was the stunning development described Wednesday in Buffalo by criminal defense attorney Thomas J. Eoannou.
This case is messier than ever.
The Tribune could not immediately confirm the bag's authenticity, and it was unclear whether Eoannou had confirmed it with authorities.
A Buffalo TV station, however, cited Erie County Central Police Services as saying all the evidence in the Kane investigation was accounted for in its original packaging.
To authenticate his claims, Eoannou produced a photograph of the bag, which apparently included the initials of the nurse who performed the evidence collection at the hospital in Erie County after the alleged incident Aug. 2. The lawyer called for an independent investigation in light of the discovery, which gave conspiracy theorists fodder for their afternoons. People were left to speculate whether the bag was left anonymously by a Good Samaritan trying to help or a bully aiming to intimidate.
"If you're looking for a surefire way to scuttle a prosecution, you tamper with evidence," Eoannou told reporters in Buffalo.
If you're looking for an interpretation of what this means for Kane, it probably depends what you thought before Eoannou dropped this bombshell.
If you still believe in No. 88, you saw reason for justification. If you have doubts about Kane's role in this, they likely grew. If you wonder how the Hawks can continue to keep Kane on the ice until the complicated situation gains clarity, get in line behind me.
Legal experts can debate what happens next but it seems difficult to envision a criminal case proceeding against Kane if key evidence has been compromised.
If the threat of charges goes away for Kane as a result of this surprising twist, the cloud of suspicion likely will not for awhile. Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston never faced criminal charges related to a 2012 sexual-assault allegation but many still wonder what role flawed work by the Tallahassee Police Department played in that outcome.
A case that disappears due to somebody compromising the chain of custody of a rape kit hardly screams exoneration -- and Kane promised last week he would be exonerated. That can't happen without evidence that no longer can be trusted. He deserves the presumption of innocence but, regardless of spin, it cannot be proven due to what appears to be either shoddy police work or a horrible hospital oversight. Either way, under these circumstances, how could the rape kit be admissible?
When the justice system fails to the point that neither side trusts the process, justice seems like the wrong word to describe it.
Kane's attorney, Paul Cambria, told the Tribune he already had been assured the DNA sample taken as part of the rape kit cleared his client -- a claim difficult to dispute now. At his own news conference later Wednesday, Cambria went so far as to call Kane "a victim in this case."
At this point of an investigation that took an unforeseen turn Wednesday in western New York, the facts suggest we only know for sure the existence of one victim.
Integrity.
dhaugh@tribpub.com
