The attorney for a woman who alleges Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane sexually assaulted her withdrew from the case Thursday, a day after saying there was tampering with an evidence bag containing his client’s rape kit.
Thomas Eoannou had said the bag had been anonymously delivered to the home of his client’s mother. Police have said all evidence connected to the case was accounted for and intact.
“This evening information was provided to my office, which established misrepresentations were made to me about the facts concerning the discovery of the rape evidence bag. In keeping with my ethical obligations as an officer of the court, I can no longer represent my client effectively, and am withdrawing,” Eoannou told reporters Thursday. “In my 30 years of practicing law, none of us in this profession has seen anything like (this).”
He added: “This does not in any way reflect upon what occurred on the night in question.”
That night refers to what may or may not have happened at Kane’s New York home in early August. The Hamburg, New York, Police Department has said it was investigating an alleged incident there. Hamburg is south of Buffalo.
After Eoannou’s decision, family members of Kane released a statement Thursday, which CNN affiliate Time Warner Cable News Buffalo obtained.
“While we are disappointed that Mr. Eoannou has withdrawn from his role providing advice and counsel in the criminal investigation of Patrick Kane, we have every intention of pursuing this case to a just conclusion. It must be emphasized that there exists no evidence or allegation that the accuser herself had any knowledge of the existence of the ‘evidence bag’ until well after it was brought to Mr. Eoannou’s office on Tuesday afternoon.”
“At this time, we are gathering information and awaiting forensic testing results,” Chief Greg Wickett said last month.
He declined to answer a reporter’s question on whether the case had anything to do with rape or sexual assault.
Kane has not been charged, and both he and his attorney have denied any wrongdoing.
“This has been an incredibly difficult time for many people. I cannot apologize enough for the distraction this has caused my family, my teammates, this incredible organization, and of course our fans,” the hockey star said last week.
“While I have too much respect for the legal process to comment on an ongoing matter, I am confident that once all the facts are brought to light, I will be absolved of having done nothing wrong.”
Paul Cambria, Kane’s lawyer, said that Eoannou’s withdrawal points to his client’s innocence.
“I think from the statements that Mr. Eoannou made today (Thursday), somebody attempted to use him to fabricate or to obstruct and undermine the science and he obviously now has made a very clear statement that ethically he had to withdraw,” Cambria said on Thursday. “Logically it means that the integrity of the accusations has been completely undermined as a result of somebody’s efforts.”
Cambria told reporters Wednesday that he’d been told Kane’s DNA was not found on the alleged victim “from the waist down.”
“My client maintains his innocence. So far, everything that we’ve been given from a physical evidence standpoint is consistent with what he says, and not consistent with forcible intercourse,” the attorney said.
On Sunday, the Buffalo News, citing four unnamed sources, reported that the DNA tests taken from a rape kit on the woman found none of Kane’s DNA “in the woman’s genital area or on her undergarments.”
However, the absence of DNA evidence doesn’t necessarily mean that a sexual assault did not occur. The investigation is still ongoing.
Kane’s DNA was found under the woman’s fingernails and on her shoulders, two of the sources — including one member of law enforcement — told the Buffalo News.