Letitia James named prosecutor for Cornell investigation

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday appointed Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor for investigating an alleged sexual assault at a Cornell University frat house. Hochul said at a news conference Friday that newly released information caused her to lose faith in Tompkins County officials’ ability to fairly oversee the investigation.

The appointment came days after the county district attorney's office officially resumed investigating the rape allegations from 2024. A former Cornell student, identified as Jane Doe, alleged she was drugged and raped by seven former and current members of the Ivy League’s Chi Phi fraternity chapter, according to a civil lawsuit filed two weeks ago. The woman’s lawsuit included graphic allegations, triggering a massive public response against county officials who previously declined to criminally charge suspects.

Andrew Miltenberg, a lawyer for one of the men named in Doe’s civil lawsuit, told media outlets Thursday that people can have empathy for the accuser while being fair to the accused. He urged the public to have faith in the due process of the law. Miltenberg added that his client is “entitled to have the evidence tested through the legal process—not by headlines, social media, or people confronting him in public or threatening his family.”

What was wrong with the county’s investigation? The alleged victim reported an assault to campus police, clearly stating her story and belief that she had been raped, Hochul said. However, Cornell campus police omitted her witness statements from documentation sent to district prosecutors, she continued. As a result, the attorney general declined to pursue charges and never pursued another interview with the alleged victim, Hochul said. 

The institutions failed to protect the young woman, the governor said. The case needed a new prosecutor and James will conduct a fresh and thorough review of the facts, the  governor said. Hochul also took issue with what she called a loophole in the state’s rape law, which she planned to amend with the help of state legislators.

What’s the governor characterizing as a loophole? Technically, New York rape laws don’t expressly protect against an assault on a person who became incapacitated after knowingly consenting to consuming alcohol or drugs. Eighteen other states have similar laws.

But voluntary intoxication should not give license for gang rape, the Hochul said.

Did the woman report being drugged or drunk? Jane Doe drank heavily and was visibly intoxicated when she arrived at the frat house, according to her recently filed lawsuit. There, she said, two men pressured her into taking ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic.