The remaining attorney for a woman who has accused Blackhawks star Patrick Kane of sexual assault says she will cooperate with the investigation into an incident officials have since described as an "elaborate hoax."
Attorney Rolan M. Cercone wrote in a letter to the editor for the Buffalo News that the young woman "had no knowledge of -- or anything to do with -- this entire fiasco." Cercone added that no one has asked to speak to his client surrounding the latest incident but she "is ready, willing and able to cooperate as she has always done throughout this investigation."
Last week, Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita alleged the brown bag that was anonymously dropped on the doorstep of the woman's mother was a "bizarre hoax."
The woman's former attorney, Thomas Eaonnou told reporters at the time that the bag had once contained the woman's rape kit, but later withdrew the accusation, saying he had been misled by the mother. He then resigned from the case.
At a Friday news conference, Sedita said the rape kit was never in the bag. Rather, he said, rape kits come in boxes, and he walked the assembled reporters through a step by step analysis of when and where the alleged victim’s kit was collected and eventually placed in a locker at the police crime lab. He even showed a surveillance video of the box being signed in.
“New questions arise,” he said. “And now I have to figure out where we go from here.”
Kane’s lawyer Paul Cambria suggested mother and daughter alike should face charges, noting the daughter, the alleged victim, knew full well that the bag had been intended for her shirt, and that it never contained the rape kit at all.
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Kane remained quiet as the events unfolded, and on Saturday, he admitted he didn't know what would happen next.
"What's actually going to happen is speculation," Kane said. "So I don't know what's going to come next. ... If I start worrying about other things that's only going to mess with my head and mess with what I'm trying to do here. Obviously I'm trying to get my game back and get everything back on point. That's where my focus is right now."
For his part, Sedita seemed to be more concerned about the overall investigation, which he said continues. Although for the first time, he held out the possibility that the case could simply go away.
“The question in my mind is not when this case will go to a grand jury,” he said. “The question in my mind is if this case will go to a grand jury.”
In the meantime, he questioned the speed with which Eaonnou had handled the initial accusation.
“He had sent us a couple of text photos of these bags, and that is when we started to commence our investigation,” he said. “He just made a decision to call a press conference and drop the bomb which kind of blew up in his face.”
