On Wednesday, Thomas Eoannou, the lawyer for the woman who has accused Kane, the Blackhawks superstar, of sexual assault, made a bombshell claim: That the evidence bag for the rape kit the woman asked for after leaving Kane’s house on Aug. 2 had been delivered, ripped open and empty, to the alleged victim’s mother’s house.
“We have spent (Tuesday) evening, into the early hours of the morning, conferring with law enforcement, former prosecutors, people that have worked at the lab, and ECMC personnel,” said Eoannou. “It is the evidence rape kit evidence bag . . . we confirmed it through the hospital (Tuesday).”
A little while after that, Erie County Commissioner of Central Police Services John Glascott put out a statement that read, “All evidence related to this case that was given to Erie County Central Police Services by the Town of Hamburg Police Department is accounted for and remains in its original packaging in the possession of Erie County Central Police Services.”
Ask a lawyer, and they will tell you this doesn’t happen. Evidence bags don’t just wind up in the street, much less at a specific door. Was it a threat? A whistleblower? A hoax? A counter-hoax? Would Eoannou be fooled by a hoax, after trying to check it out?
Nobody knew, and it all made you feel kind of sick. Only a few people know what actually happened between Kane and the accuser on that night. We know she left his house and went to hospital and asked for a rape kit. We know Kane believes he will be exonerated, as he said when he was trotted out at Blackhawks camp last week, right before the team president spent 10 minutes talking about the great successes of the organization, tone deaf as can be. We know the Blackhawks invited Kane to camp after conferring with his lawyer.
We know a grand jury has not yet been convened, seven weeks later, but was still understood to be in the works before Wednesday. We know he hasn’t been charged.
When someone famous is accused of sexual assault, the dance steps are predictable. There are lawyers, and sometimes there are leaks.
And there is a certain crowd that masses, reliably, like clockwork. They want the hero to be innocent. They need the hero to be innocent. They proclaim that innocence, with certainty. Wednesday, they were mostly from Chicago, and they kept coming on Twitter. “You raped me. Congratulations. You are now an accused rapist.” “Why does she need a lawyer?” “Innocent until proven guilty. The Cup is looking pretty good by the way.” “He didn’t do it.” And worse.