The Dave McKee Case

I haven't written about this yet, mainly because I was waiting to see if any more details emerged. But it might be partly due to the natural tendency, as a Cornell hockey fan, to shut my eyes and hope the whole thing goes away. Even on eLynah, where we posters are usually desperate for any Cornell hockey news during the offseason, there have only been a few scattered posts about McKee buried in a thread about alumni. (McKee didn't graduate, but that's besides the point.)

Regardless, it's certainly something which should be covered in a blog which covers Cornell hockey, and Cornell in general, so here we go.

Former Cornell hockey goalie and Hobey Baker Award finalist David McKee '07 was charged last month in a California court with raping an unconscious woman in 2006.

McKee was one of the finest Cornell goaltenders of this era. During his sophomore season (2004-2005), he set what was then the NCAA record for goals against average: 1.24. The next year, his numbers dropped off a bit, but he still brought Cornell within inches of a Frozen Four appearance with another trip to the NCAA regional final.

McKee left Cornell after his junior season, meaning that his final collegiate game was Cornell's triple overtime, 1-0, loss to Wisconsin in Green Bay. McKee stopped the first 59 shots he saw before letting in the winning goal.

This brings us to the summer of 2006, which was when McKee allegedly raped the drunk woman. The details from the Orange County DA's office:

On July 12, 2006, McKee and several other male hockey players were staying at a hotel in Orange while in Orange County for a NHL hockey camp. That night, the defendant is accused of going to Woody’s Wharf in Newport Beach with a group of male friends for drinks and meeting 25-year-old Jane Doe. After the bar closed, McKee is accused of going to Jane Doe’s Newport Beach apartment with a group of men and women. Jane Doe, who was intoxicated, went into her bedroom alone to go to sleep.

At approximately 4:15 a.m. on July 13, 2006, McKee is accused of going into Jane Doe’s bedroom and raping her while she was unconscious and unable to resist due to her intoxication. Jane Doe woke up during the sexual assault. Jane Doe immediately contacted the Newport Beach Police Department, who investigated this case. McKee was indicted by the Grand Jury on May 11, 2009.

There is one thing about the case which jumps out immediately: If the accuser approached police immediately, why was there a three-year delay before charges were filed?

The DA has tried to play down the significance of the delay:

Farrah Emami, a spokesperson for the Orange County District Attorney's office, said the reason for the length in time between the alleged incident and indictment was due to the investigation and not the discovery of any new information or evidence.

"It was a lengthy investigation as well as a follow-up investigation," Emami said. "So unfortunately it took the 2 1/2 or three years."

It's tough to figure out what's going on here. I doubt that prosecutors have any sort of DNA evidence to link McKee to the crime, since the evidence would have had to have been obtained shortly after the alleged crime. Without the evidence, the prosecution has a weak case.

I can't find the link now, but I did read at some point that McKee's lawyer had claimed that the DA's office had refused to prosecute the case on two previous occasions before taking it up this summer.

Another question is why the Anaheim Ducks would have re-signed McKee in 2007, if he was the subject of a rape investigation.

There hasn't been much further information. McKee had his pre-trial hearing on Friday, so we should know soon if the case will proceed to trial.