Accused Cornell student to make case for removing special prosecutor Letitia James from sex assault investigation

One of the Cornell University students accused of sexually assaulting a female classmate at a fraternity party is hoping to convince a judge that New York Attorney General Letitia James is biased and should not oversee a criminal investigation into the allegations.

At issue are statements James made last month in response to Jane Doe’s lawsuit alleging she was gang-raped at the Chi Phi house in 2024.

In the wake of nationwide attention to the allegations, on September 28 James posted on her official X account , “What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable. I’m holding her in my heart and in my prayers. To her, and to all survivors: you’re not alone. We stand with you.”

Three days later, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued an executive order naming James special prosecutor to investigate the allegations in a case that has reignited a conversation about sexual assault on the Ivy League campus and beyond.

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Andrew Miltenberg, a lawyer for Cornell student Gillio Lopes, filed a petition October 7 arguing those comments should disqualify James from leading a criminal investigation. He is asking a judge to void Hochul’s executive order.

“The appointment of Attorney General James is improper as Attorney General James has unequivocally demonstrated a bias and presumption of guilt against the defendants named in the Civil Case, including Petitioner,” he wrote in a court filing.

New York State Judge James Farrell, a Republican elected to the bench in 2019 and a former Sullivan County district attorney, will hear arguments Thursday on whether James should stay in the role. He has given both sides 30 minutes to make their case. James, who is running for reelection, is not expected to attend.

It is one of two legal challenges to remove James from the case. A separate motion, which was filed by another student accused of assaulting Doe that night, is pending in Tompkins County.

The hearing comes as the Cornell Faculty Senate is weighing a no-confidence vote on Cornell’s handling of the “ongoing crisis of sexual assault” at the university. The non-binding vote would not force the resignation of Cornell’s president, but it could add pressure to the administration as it tries to shore up confidence that the campus is safe. The school’s board of trustees hired Sally Yates, a former deputy US attorney general, to lead an outside investigation into Cornell’s handling of Doe’s allegations and other reported instances of sexual assaults.

Hochul issued the executive order on October 1, after she said she “lost faith” in the Tompkins County district attorney who had previously looked into the allegations and concluded they could not support criminal charges.

Miltenberg said he doesn’t dispute that Hochul has the authority to appoint someone to investigate the allegations, but he believes James has already picked a side.

“It has nothing to do with it being Letitia James,” Miltenberg told CNN. “No one who made that statement, which we think goes beyond compassion to accepting the narrative of the allegations, is the right person to restore confidence in an investigation.”

Lawyers for the attorney general said courts have limited authority to review the governor’s use of her powers to appoint the attorney general to supersede, or take over, an investigation.

They also said Lopes’ concerns are “wildly speculative,” and James’ statement was a “single empathetic remark” that does not mean she prejudged the investigation. His concerns are premature and could be renewed when, and if, there is ever a criminal case, they added.

Doe accused Lopes of having sex with her and another student that she did not consent to.

Miltenberg denied the allegations. He previously told CNN Lopes was not involved in facilitating or encouraging others to participate in the alleged assault, and emphasized that Lopes’ own encounter with Doe was consensual and happened before any messages inviting other fraternity members to his room were sent. The alleged assault took place in Lopes’ room.

“I’ve seen all of the evidence in the Title IX file; there was no crime committed that I’m aware of, and to the extent an investigator decides there was the possibility of a crime, it certainly wasn’t Gillio,” Miltenberg previously told CNN.

Lopes was suspended for one academic year and was required to take a class and submit a “reflective paper” about what happened, following the Title IX process. He is currently attending Cornell with two semesters left to graduate, his attorney said.

康奈尔大学一名学生被指控在兄弟会派对上性侵一名女同学，他希望说服法官，纽约州总检察长莱蒂西亚·詹姆斯存在偏见，不应该监督对这些指控的刑事调查。

争议的焦点在于詹姆斯上个月对简·多伊提起的诉讼所作的回应，简·多伊声称她在 2024 年于 Chi Phi 兄弟会会所遭到轮奸。

在全国范围内对这些指控的关注之后，9月28日，詹姆斯在其官方X账号上发帖称：“这位年轻女性被迫承受的痛苦令人发指，无法接受。我为她祈祷，并将她放在心上。致她，也致所有幸存者：你们并不孤单。我们与你们同在。”

三天后，纽约州州长凯西·霍楚尔发布行政命令，任命詹姆斯为特别检察官，调查此案中的指控。此案重新引发了人们对常春藤盟校校园内外性侵犯问题的讨论。

康奈尔大学聘请前司法部高官调查该校对涉嫌轮奸案的回应

康奈尔大学学生吉利奥·洛佩斯的律师安德鲁·米尔滕贝格于10月7日提交请愿书，认为詹姆斯的这些言论应使其丧失领导刑事调查的资格。他请求法官撤销霍楚的行政命令。

他在一份法庭文件中写道：“任命詹姆斯为司法部长是不恰当的，因为詹姆斯司法部长已明确表示对民事案件中提到的被告（包括请愿人）存在偏见和有罪推定。”

纽约州法官詹姆斯·法雷尔（James Farrell）将于周四听取关于詹姆斯是否应继续担任该职务的辩论。法雷尔是共和党人，于2019年当选法官，曾任沙利文县地方检察官。他给了双方30分钟的陈述时间。正在竞选连任的詹姆斯预计不会出席。

这是将詹姆斯从该案中撤换的两项法律挑战之一。另一项动议由当晚被控袭击简·多伊的学生提出，目前正在汤普金斯县待审。

此次听证会召开之际，康奈尔大学教务委员会正在考虑就该校处理“持续性侵危机”的方式进行不信任投票。这项不具约束力的投票不会迫使康奈尔大学校长辞职，但可能会给校方施加压力，使其难以恢复公众对校园安全的信心。学校董事会已聘请美国前副司法部长萨莉·耶茨 (Sally Yates) 领导一项外部调查，调查康奈尔大学对约翰·多伊 (John Doe) 的指控以及其他已报告的性侵事件的处理情况。

霍楚于 10 月 1 日发布了这项行政命令，此前她表示，她对汤普金斯县地方检察官“失去了信心”，该检察官此前调查了这些指控，并得出结论认为这些指控不足以支持刑事指控。

米尔滕贝格表示，他不否认霍楚有权任命某人调查这些指控，但他认为詹姆斯已经选边站队了。

米尔滕贝格告诉CNN：“这与她是不是莱蒂西亚·詹姆斯无关。任何发表那份声明的人，我们认为那份声明超越了同情，而是接受了这些指控的说法，因此，没有人能够恢复人们对调查的信心。”

总检察长的律师表示，法院对州长行使权力任命总检察长接管调查的权限有限。

他们还表示，洛佩斯的担忧“纯属臆测”，詹姆斯的声明只是“一句表达同情的评论”，并不意味着她对调查结果有所预判。他们补充说，洛佩斯的担忧为时尚早，如果将来真的有刑事案件发生，这些担忧可能会再次出现。

Doe指控Lopes与她和另一名女学生发生性关系，而她并未同意。

米尔滕贝格否认了这些指控。他此前告诉CNN，洛佩斯没有参与组织或鼓励他人参与所谓的性侵事件，并强调洛佩斯与约翰·多伊的性行为是双方自愿的，而且发生在任何邀请其他兄弟会成员到他房间的信息发出之前。所谓的性侵事件发生在洛佩斯的房间里。

“我已经看过第九条修正案文件中的所有证据；据我所知，没有发生任何犯罪行为，而且即便调查人员认为存在犯罪的可能性，那也肯定不是吉利奥干的，”米尔滕贝格此前告诉 CNN。

根据第九条修正案的规定，洛佩斯被停学一年，并被要求修读一门课程，并提交一篇关于事件经过的“反思论文”。他的律师表示，他目前就读于康奈尔大学，还有两个学期即可毕业。