‘I want the truth’: NY governor appoints prosecutor in Cornell rape case

New York Governor Kathy Hochul says local authorities failed to properly investigate the 2024 allegations.New York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed state Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor to investigate an alleged gang rape at Cornell University, saying newly released information had undermined her confidence in the local prosecutor’s handling of the case.In a news conference on Friday, Hochul said that the woman who reported the alleged assault had been failed by institutions responsible for protecting her, including Cornell University Police and the Tompkins County district attorney’s office.Recommended Stories list of 1 itemlist 1 of 1Why has a Cornell rape investigation been reopened?end of list“In what world does the district attorney not even interview her, or anyone else involved, or even request the full transcript?” Hochul asked at the news conference. “And I want the truth. I think every parent in this state, every New Yorker wants the truth in this case.”Hochul signed an executive order on Thursday requiring the attorney general to investigate the alleged October 2024 assault. If warranted, evidence will be presented to a grand jury and the case prosecuted.The order states the Tompkins County district attorney declined to prosecute the case in November 2024 without speaking to Jane Doe and relied, at least in part, on information from a Cornell police statement that omitted her assertion that she had been sexually assaulted.The appointment of James means the state attorney general’s office, rather than the county district attorney, will now control the criminal investigation.The New York state attorney general has announced a review of the university’s initial response to allegations by a former Cornell student that she was raped at a campus fraternity in 2024 [File: Spencer Platt/AFP]Questions over the 2024 investigationProsecutors initially closed the case without criminal charges in 2024. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten reopened the investigation on Monday, after Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit accusing seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity of sexually assaulting her.