Hochul Says Cornell Rape Case Accuser Was Failed by Officials

A woman known in court papers as Jane Doe says she was drugged and raped by several men at a Cornell University fraternity house in 2024. On Friday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul stood at a news conference and said the woman was "failed" by the officials who were supposed to protect her, according to the BBC.

"This young woman had already endured something that is utterly unspeakable, and then at every turn she was failed by people and institutions with an obligation to protect her," Hochul said, per the BBC. The original Tompkins County investigation produced no charges. The case reopened after Doe filed a civil lawsuit against Cornell last month that drew national attention.

Who is leading the new investigation?

Hochul has appointed New York Attorney General Letitia James to take over the case, saying she had "lost faith" in the local prosecutor's ability to oversee it, the BBC reported. James, appearing alongside Hochul, pledged to "lead a process guided by the facts and the law" and said her office would interview witnesses and pursue charges if the evidence supports them.

What happened in the original investigation?

District Attorney Matthew Van Houten led the first inquiry and has defended the decision not to file charges, arguing prosecutors lacked sufficient evidence to meet the legal threshold at the time, according to the BBC. Hochul specifically criticized the fact that local prosecutors did not interview the accuser themselves. Van Houten said in a statement Friday that he supports James's investigation, adding: "It has become clear that we were not provided the full picture by the university."

What does Cornell say about the evidence?

Cornell has said it turned over evidence from its own internal investigation to the district attorney's office, including a Snapchat group chat in which fraternity members allegedly discussed a "free" sexual encounter with Doe the night of the incident, the BBC reported. The competing accounts — Van Houten saying his office lacked the full picture, Cornell saying it supplied evidence — remain unresolved publicly.

What change does Hochul want to New York law?

Hochul said Doe is believed to have voluntarily consumed drugs and alcohol the night of the alleged assault, and she vowed to close what she called a "loophole" that currently makes it harder to bring rape charges in such cases. "If someone is too intoxicated to consent it should not matter if they chose to use drugs or alcohol," Hochul said, per the BBC. "Voluntary intoxication is not a licence for gang rape."

How is the accuser doing now?

Doe's attorney, Thomas Giuffra, told CNN on Friday that his client is "not doing well." "She's under siege on social media, where people are trying to identify her; some false court postings, attempting to identify her," Giuffra said, as reported by the BBC. Doe's civil lawsuit against Cornell, filed in September, remains active separately from the newly reopened criminal inquiry.

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