DNA results fail to confirm Patrick Kane rape allegations

Chicago Blackhawks' Patrick Kane listens during a media availability on the first day of NHL hockey training camp at the Compton Family Ice Center on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind…
DNA evidence failed to confirm a woman's allegations that Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane raped her.
The DNA tests showed no trace of Kane’s DNA in the woman’s genital area or on her undergarments. But, according to legal experts, the lack of DNA evidence doesn't necessarily mean there was no sexual assault, as the evidence involved in this type of investigation typically consists of more than DNA.

“The absence of DNA and semen, in itself, does not prove that there was no rape,” said Florina Altshiler, a Buffalo attorney who worked as a sex-crimes prosecutor in Alaska. “It proves that there was no ejaculation, or possibly, that the perpetrator wore a condom.”
Frank J. Clark, the county’s former district attorney, offered a different opinion.
He claims if no DNA is found in the woman's genital area or undergarments, it “could be a game-changer” in Kane’s favor.


“If the vaginal swabs taken at the hospital show no sign of his DNA, that could very well exonerate him of rape,” Clark said.

Kane is accused of raping a woman inside his house early Aug. 2 after the two met at a downtown Buffalo bar. The alleged victim told police that Kane invited her to his house in suburban Hamburg for a private party with another woman and one of Kane's friend. She claimed she was left with a scratched leg and bite marks on her shoulders as a result of the alleged assault.
Kane has not been charged with a crime.

Representatives of Kane and his accuser are still attempting to negotiate an out-of-court civil settlement between the two parties, Buffalo News sources said.
“Both parties, Kane and this young woman, feel that they are in the right,” said one source familiar with the situation.
Kane spoke to the media for the first time on Thursday and said he'd “done nothing wrong” and predicted he would be exonerated.