Patrick Kane's lawyer denies talk of settlement

Patrick Kane’s attorney, reached late Wednesday, denied a report that he was in settlement negotiations with the attorneys representing the woman who leveled the accusations against the Blackhawks star.

“There are no settlement talks between me and her lawyers, period,” attorney Paul Cambria said via text message.

Earlier Wednesday, the Chicago Tribune published a story that cited anonymous sources who said attorneys for both sides have been in communication for weeks, but had not reached a formal agreement that could end the criminal investigation.

The Tribune story described negotiations in which both Kane and his accuser each view themselves as the wronged party, with one source adding that each has threatened to “walk away and just let the justice system take care of it.”

Kane is accused of sexually assaulting a woman last month at his home in suburban Buffalo.

In a phone conversation earlier Wednesday, Cambria said he was unsure why grand jury proceedings were postponed last week.

“I never called off the grand jury, the district attorney rescheduled it, had some scheduling issue,” Cambria said. “I don’t do their scheduling. They have like 70 [assistant district attorneys] and I don’t know how many of them are submitting things to the grand jury, but it takes time.”

Cambria would not speculate on when the grand jury proceedings would begin.

“They haven’t given us a new date,” said Cambria, who added that he is waiting to hear from the office of Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita on the matter.

Follow me on Twitter @mitchdudek.

Email: mdudek@suntimes.com