Crime · updated 23m ago · 3 min read
Cornell Students Gather After Kathy Hochul Appoints Letitia James Special Prosecutor
Tompkins County DA reopens 2024 Cornell fraternity gang-rape probe after civil lawsuit. Governor Hochul appoints Letitia James as special prosecutor to oversee the investigation.
Whether Jane Doe initially alleged she was drugged/raped as gang rape.
7 of 9 outlets skipped it: cornell says no essay-writing was offered as a sole consequence.
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CNN
“prosecutors reopened the investigation after the woman filed a civil lawsuit this month”Read the original ↗
ABC foregrounds the legal reason for non-charges; CNN foregrounds the lawsuit trigger.
Cornell Assembly, New Outrage
Cornell University students gathered at a public forum on Thursday to voice anger over an alleged gang rape in 2024, with student assembly president Eeshaan Chaudhuri opening the meeting by saying the campus stood "with victims of sexual violence." Eeshaan Chaudhuri told the crowd, "We don't tolerate it here on campus, and I think I can speak for every single one of us, and I can say we're absolutely ashamed of the events that happened on our campus," as students and faculty described the investigation as casting a "dark cloud" over the campus. New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced she had appointed the state attorney general, Letitia James, as special prosecutor, taking over from Tompkins County district attorney Matthew Van Houten.
Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit against Cornell on 16 September, and the men have been dubbed the Cornell Seven. Sophia Riley Sim told those at the gathering, "We deserve to know that our institution values our safety more than its reputation," and said she had been too upset by the case to attend classes for the past week.
Special Prosecutor and Dispute
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she had "lost faith" in the Tompkins County district attorney and named Letitia James as special prosecutor, as the investigation escalated and Cornell faced renewed scrutiny. Cornell told CNN it supports the governor's decision, and Cornell said police followed protocol and shared "all investigatory information" with the DA. CThe Tompkins County district attorney Matthew Van Houten told CNN his office never received more than exchanged Snapchat messages related to the incident and a six-page investigative report before deciding not to bring charges in 2024.C
Cornell defended its prior handling by saying, "At its conclusion, the hearing panel issued a range of sanctions, which included expulsions and suspensions from Cornell." CBS News reported that Cornell student government held a town hall focused on the allegations and how one speaker demanded "accountability, meaningful support for students, appropriate disciplinary action for those involved, and transparency from Cornell administration".
What Comes Next for Cornell
Cornell agreed to an independent review of its handling of the alleged gang rape case, and Kathy Hochul said she requested an independent investigation led by external advisors hired by Cornell.
“This culture must end, and it will end here, in the state of New York.”
Hochul said she wanted answers and directed her team to analyze what measures could be taken when the next legislature meets, adding, "This culture must end, and it will end here, in the state of New York."
NBC News reported that Jane Doe told Cornell University police in a sworn statement that she felt "like I was unable to make any decisions because of how intoxicated I was."
NBC News also said the lawsuit filed Sept. 16 prompted the DA to take a fresh look after his office previously determined there was "insufficient evidence to support criminal charges" when the case was reviewed in 2024.
The Cornell Daily Sun editor Cereese Qusba told CNN that the university faces "a reckoning" in how it grapples with cases of sexual assault on campus, and the case was framed as marking "a decade since" the MeToo movement.C