Gov. Kathy Hochul took the Cornell fraternity rape case away from Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten on Thursday night and handed it to Attorney General Letitia James. Hochul signed an executive order naming James special prosecutor and said what has come out in the past week "undercut my faith, and the public's faith," in the district attorney's ability to investigate and prosecute the case. James will investigate and, if the evidence warrants, take it to a grand jury. "Every New Yorker deserves to know that when they report a crime, it will be investigated fully and fairly," James said.
A former student, identified in court papers only as Jane Doe, alleges that seven men drugged and raped her at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024, when she was 20. She reported it to Cornell's campus police that November. The campus police sent her statement to Van Houten's office. His office declined to charge anyone. Cornell ran its own disciplinary process. Nearly two years on, nobody has been criminally charged.
What moved the case was a lawsuit. Jane Doe sued Cornell, the fraternity, her sorority and the seven men on Sept. 16. The student newspaper wrote on Sept. 21 that "Cornell has failed to protect its students." An online petition passed 100,000 signatures by Wednesday. Van Houten reopened the criminal investigation on Sept. 27. Hochul backed him on Sept. 29. Three days later she took the case off his desk.
What changed in those three days was what Van Houten said he had in front of him in 2024, and what turned out to be missing from it.
