New York governor steps in after Cornell gang rape case is dropped by local prosecutor

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has bypassed a local prosecutor, appointing State Attorney General Letitia James to take over an investigation into the alleged gang rape of a Cornell University student.

The intervention comes after police records revealed that Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten declined to bring charges against seven fraternity members without ever interviewing the victim, reading her full statement, or examining witness files compiled by campus police.

"In what world does the district attorney not even interview her or anyone else involved, or even request the full transcript?" Hochul asked during a press conference announcing James's appointment.

The allegations at Chi Phi

The case stems from an incident in October 2024 at the Chi Phi fraternity house in Ithaca. A 20-year-old student, suing under the name Jane Doe, alleges she was plied with alcohol and ketamine before being assaulted over seven hours.

Police files show that Cornell investigators immediately began interviewing witnesses and taking anonymous tips. But when they approached the district attorney’s office on 25 November 2024, staff told them they had already decided not to prosecute based solely on the victim's initial six-page police statement.

Van Houten defended his decision, arguing that Jane Doe’s initial statement did not allege criminality. He admitted he had not read her complete interview, only a shorter summary written by campus police. The full, unread statement included the sentence: "I can say with 100 percent confidence that I was raped."

Unexamined evidence

When asked about the witness statements, Van Houten said "there was nothing to review" because the interviews flagged by campus police were merely fraternity members declining to speak on the advice of their lawyers.

Yet the police records indicate other leads were left unexamined. Campus police had requested data from Snapchat, eventually receiving more than 1,600 pieces of information from five accounts. Investigators ultimately concluded only three messages mentioned the incident, and none were criminal. However, one Snapchat message sent by an alleged participant during the incident had referred to the victim as "free pussy" in a group chat, according to the lawsuit.

Delayed notifications and systemic failures

The handling of the case has drawn fierce criticism from the victim's lawyer, Thomas Giuffra. He revealed that Jane Doe was not told the district attorney had dropped the case in November 2024 until nearly two months later, on 21 January 2025.

"She believed they were still investigating," Giuffra said. "If so, that is worse than I thought."

Giuffra also criticised Cornell’s health centre, where the student went shortly after the incident seeking treatment for a urinary tract infection of "traumatic origin". Staff did not offer her a rape kit, which her lawyer called "the first failure post-assault".

Under Cornell's internal university investigation, two of the seven accused students were expelled, while five received lesser penalties like writing essays or attending workshops. All seven men have denied any wrongdoing.

Attorney General James must now decide whether to present the evidence to a grand jury to secure criminal charges.