The lawyer for the woman accusing Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane of rape believes that "something seriously has gone amiss," in the case. Thomas Eoannou held a press conference in Buffalo on Wednesday in which he decried certain aspects of the investigation and, in a stunning revelation, announced that the evidence bag, which held the results of the rape kit performed on the victim the night of the alleged incident, had been delivered anonymously to the victim's mother.
"Yesterday, the rape-kit evidence bag was anonymously delivered to the home of my client's mother," Eoannou said, per Jason Brough of NBC Sports. "We know this to be the evidence bag that once contained the rape-kit evidence. We know this. It contains my client's birth date. It contains the location where the rape kit was done. And it confirms the nurse's initials who performed the rape kit. It is authentic."
The bag, which was apparently found "between the storm door and the door" of Eoannou's client's mother's house, had been "folded up in a number of small squares." There was nothing in the bag.
This is a picture of the ripped open evidence bag. pic.twitter.com/6JiVpX1f33
— Shawn McKenzie (@ShawnMcKenzieSN) September 23, 2015
"As you can see from the pictures, this evidence bag has been ripped open. The purpose of an evidence bag is to protect the items of evidence from tampering. The bag itself is even critical evidence to the chain of custody. It never leaves law enforcement or the district attorney's office," Eoannou said, per Brough.
"In my thirty years plus of being both a prosecutor and a defense attorney, I have never seen an evidence bag outside of a police lab, a prosecutor's office or a courtroom, let alone find one in the doorway of a rape victim's mother's home.
"On behalf of my client, I will be requesting an independent law-force investigation by a separate law-force agency into how this breach could've possibly happened."
Considering Eoannou's concerns lie with the privacy and well-being of his client, this is a massive breach of trust and perhaps throws the entire investigation into question. While Eoannou stops short of making accusations of tampering regarding the actual rape kit, alluding only to the bag, it certainly seems he's suggesting that may have been what occurred.
Thomas Eoannou "God knows what has happened to the evidence". "We need to bring in the FBI or State Troopers."
— Shawn McKenzie (@ShawnMcKenzieSN) September 23, 2015
