New York Attorney General Letitia James pledged on Friday (October 2) to review evidence and pursue prosecutions if warranted in the alleged 2024 gang rape of a Cornell University student, a day after Governor Kathy Hochul appointed her special prosecutor in the case.
"This is now an active criminal investigation led by the Office of the Attorney General," James said at a press conference alongside Hochul.
The appointment follows renewed scrutiny of how police, prosecutors and Cornell handled the student's allegations. The woman filed a civil lawsuit last month alleging that several fraternity members drugged and assaulted her in 2024.
READ: Analyst sees hurdle in Cornell University rape case
Hochul said James would conduct an independent investigation.
"That's why I believe this case demands a special prosecutor who will provide a fresh and thorough review of all the facts, including the information that has recently come to light," Hochul said.
"She'll follow the facts. She'll examine the evidence and go wherever it leads," Hochul said. "And if the evidence supports criminal charges, she will pursue them."
In announcing the appointment on Thursday, Hochul said newly released information raised questions about the Cornell Police Department's investigation and the decision by Tompkins County prosecutors not to bring charges. She said she had lost faith in the district attorney's ability to fairly oversee the case.
District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said earlier this week that his office had reopened the case and would present evidence, including testimony from the woman, to a grand jury for possible indictment.
His office said it initially declined to pursue charges partly because of constraints in state law. Experts and advocates say New York law can make certain rape charges harder to prosecute when an alleged victim voluntarily consumed intoxicants before an assault.
Hochul on Friday called for legislation to address that issue.
"If someone is too intoxicated to consent, it should not matter whether they chose to use drugs or alcohol," she said. "Voluntary intoxication is not a license for sexual assault or gang rape."
She said she would work with the state legislature to close the loophole.
James said her office would gather evidence and interview witnesses, cautioning that a comprehensive investigation would take time.
"But my office is committed to seeing it through," she said.
Recent news reports have raised further questions about the initial handling of the allegations. CBS New York obtained a transcript of the woman's police interview that included substantially more detail than the sworn statement police provided to prosecutors.
The New York Times, citing more than 1,000 pages of material from Cornell's internal investigation, reported that the accused men denied wrongdoing and told university investigators the sex was consensual.
The lawsuit names seven fraternity members, the Chi Phi fraternity, Cornell, a bar and the woman's sorority as defendants.
Cornell has defended its response, saying it conducted a comprehensive investigation, barred the Chi Phi chapter from campus and imposed discipline on fraternity members, including expulsions and sanctions. The chapter remains closed.
The national Chi Phi fraternity said on Wednesday that both the Cornell chapter and the national organization had expelled members understood to have been involved in the incident.
(Camera: Andrew Hofstetter / Production, Editing, Writing: Kyoko Gasha, Roselle Chen / Writing: Kanishka Singh)