‘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 State Attorney General Letitia James (center) and New York Governor Kathy Hochul (right) at a news conference on an investigation into alleged sexual assault at Cornell University, in New York City, October 2, 2026 [Jeenah Moon/Reuters]

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.

list 1 of 1 Why has a Cornell rape investigation been reopened?

“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 investigation

Prosecutors 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.

Van Houten has defended his original decision, saying in a September 28 statement that prosecutors reviewed a six-page sworn statement the woman gave Cornell police in November 2024.

He said the statement did not allege that she had been drugged against her will, and described her participation in sexual conduct as voluntary and consensual. He said multiple prosecutors and investigators reviewed the statement and concluded that, as presented, the facts did not establish a crime under New York law.

The governor, however, said the full account given to police was not conveyed to prosecutors. She cited reports that Jane Doe told investigators she was “100% confident” she had been raped.

Cornell has said its police department provided prosecutors with the evidence it had gathered, including a Snapchat screenshot, and that the university separately investigated the allegations through its disciplinary process. Cornell said sanctions imposed after that process included expulsions and suspensions.

Cornell has also said it is conducting an independent review of how it handled the allegations.

New York’s consent law under scrutiny

The Cornell case has renewed debate over New York’s definition of incapacity to consent. Under current state law, a person is considered “mentally incapacitated” when drugs or alcohol are given to someone without consent.

A state bill introduced in June would extend the provision to cases in which a victim voluntarily consumed alcohol or drugs but became so intoxicated that they were temporarily unable to control their conduct, if the accused knew or reasonably should have known of the victim’s condition.

The legislation has gained renewed attention following the Cornell allegations. Lawmakers said on Thursday that the case highlighted what they described as a gap in the state’s current law.

“If someone is too intoxicated to consent, it should not matter whether they chose to use drugs or alcohol,” Hochul said at Friday’s news conference. “Voluntary intoxication is not a licence for sexual assault or gang rape, period.”

Lindsey Boylan, a New York City Council candidate and the first woman to accuse former Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment publicly, said Hochul should use the moment to push for broader legislative change.

“I expect to see her follow through with not just supporting the independent investigation, but also changing the state laws,” Boylan said. “That is what I’m expecting her to do now, and I think that is what every survivor is expecting her to do now.”

纽约州州长凯西·霍楚尔表示，地方当局未能对 2024 年的指控进行适当调查。

2026年10月2日，纽约州总检察长莱蒂西亚·詹姆斯（中）和纽约州州长凯西·霍楚（右）在纽约市就康奈尔大学涉嫌性侵事件的调查举行新闻发布会。[Jeenah Moon/路透社]

纽约州州长凯西·霍楚尔任命州检察长莱蒂西亚·詹姆斯为特别检察官，调查康奈尔大学一起涉嫌轮奸案。她表示，新公布的信息动摇了她对当地检察官处理此案的信心。

霍楚在周五的新闻发布会上表示，举报这起涉嫌袭击事件的女子遭到了负责保护她的机构的辜负，其中包括康奈尔大学警察局和汤普金斯县地方检察官办公室。

问题 1/1：康奈尔大学为何重启强奸案调查？

“在哪个世界里，地方检察官竟然连面谈都不做，既不采访她，也不采访其他涉案人员，甚至连完整的笔录都不要求？”霍楚在新闻发布会上质问道。“我想要真相。我认为这个州的每一位家长，每一位纽约人都想知道这起案件的真相。”

霍楚周四签署了一项行政命令，要求司法部长调查这起据称发生在2024年10月的袭击事件。如果确有必要，证据将提交给大陪审团，并提起诉讼。

该命令指出，汤普金斯县地方检察官在 2024 年 11 月拒绝起诉此案，因为他没有与简·多伊交谈，而且至少部分依赖于康奈尔警方的一份声明中的信息，该声明遗漏了她声称自己曾遭受性侵犯的内容。

詹姆斯的任命意味着，州检察长办公室（而非县地方检察官办公室）将控制刑事调查。

纽约州总检察长宣布将审查康奈尔大学对该校一名前学生指控其于 2024 年在校园兄弟会遭到强奸的初步回应。[图片：Spencer Platt/AFP]

关于2024年调查的问题

检察官最初于 2024 年结案，未提出刑事指控。周一，汤普金斯县地方检察官马修·范·豪顿在简·多伊提起民事诉讼，指控 Chi Phi 兄弟会的七名成员性侵犯她之后，重新启动了调查。

范·豪顿为他最初的决定辩护，他在 9 月 28 日的一份声明中表示，检察官审查了该女子于 2024 年 11 月向康奈尔警方提供的一份六页的宣誓声明。

他说，声明中并未指控她被强迫下药，并称她参与性行为是自愿且双方同意的。他还说，多名检察官和调查人员审查了这份声明，并得出结论：根据声明内容，事实并不构成纽约州法律意义上的犯罪。

然而，州长表示，警方并未将受害者的全部陈述转达给检察官。她援引报道称，简·多伊告诉调查人员，她“百分之百确信”自己遭到了强奸。

康奈尔大学表示，其校警部门已向检方提供了收集到的证据，包括一张Snapchat截图，并且校方也通过内部纪律处分程序对这些指控进行了独立调查。康奈尔大学称，经该程序处理后，对涉事人员采取的处罚措施包括开除和停学。

康奈尔大学也表示，正在对处理这些指控的方式进行独立审查。

纽约州的同意法正受到审查

康奈尔大学的这起案件再次引发了关于纽约州对“无行为能力”定义的争论。根据现行州法律，未经同意向他人提供毒品或酒精，则该人被视为“精神无行为能力”。

6 月份提出的一项州法案将该条款扩展到以下情况：受害者自愿饮酒或吸毒，但醉酒到暂时无法控制自己的行为，而被告知道或理应知道受害者的状况。

康奈尔大学的指控事件后，这项立法再次受到关注。立法者周四表示，此案凸显了他们所说的该州现行法律中的一个漏洞。

“如果有人醉酒到无法同意，那么他们选择吸毒还是喝酒都无关紧要，”霍楚在周五的新闻发布会上说。“自愿醉酒绝不是性侵犯或轮奸的通行证，就这么简单。”

纽约市议会候选人林赛·博伊兰是第一个公开指控前州长安德鲁·科莫性骚扰的女性，她说霍楚应该利用这个机会推动更广泛的立法改革。

博伊兰说：“我希望她不仅支持独立调查，而且还能推动修改州法律。这是我现在对她的期望，也是所有幸存者对她的期望。”