A former Cornell University fraternity member accused of participating in the alleged gang rape of a fellow student is seeking to have New York Attorney General Letitia James removed from the case, arguing that she cannot serve as an impartial special prosecutor.
The dispute follows Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul’s announcement last week that she had signed an executive order appointing James to lead the investigation into allegations stemming from an October 19, 2024 incident at the Chi Phi fraternity house.
Hochul said she had complete faith that James would approach the matter by reviewing the evidence and following the facts.
“That is precisely what will happen in this case,” the governor said.
However, James appeared to express sympathy for the woman at the center of the allegations only three days before her appointment was announced.
“What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable,” James wrote on X on September 28. “I’m holding her in my heart and in my prayers.”
Lawyers representing defendant Gillio Lopes contend in a petition filed with Albany County Supreme Court that James’s public remarks “unequivocally demonstrated a bias and presumption of guilt against the Defendants named in the civil case,” NBC News reports.
The attorneys argue that the post shows James had already developed a view of the allegations and had effectively determined that Lopes and the other defendants were responsible.
A former Cornell fraternity member accused of taking part in the alleged gang rape has filed a petition seeking to block New York Attorney General Letitia James from serving as special prosecutor
New York Governor Kathy Hochul appointed James to oversee the case last week
James appeared to voice support for the alleged victim three days before Hochul announced her appointment
Lopes’s legal team is asking the court to replace James with a prosecutor who has no actual or apparent conflict of interest and is not viewed as biased.
The Article 78 petition, submitted Wednesday, also lists Governor Hochul as a defendant.
“As Governor Hochul has said, the public needs to have confidence in the person directing this investigation,” Stuart Bernstein, one of Lopes’s attorneys, said in a statement.
“Attorney General James, based on her very public statements validating Jane Doe, certainly does not inspire confidence in a fair investigation,” Bernstein added.
Bernstein’s comments came a day after another member of Lopes’s defense team, Andrew Miltenberg, said he supported Cornell’s decision to appoint former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates to conduct an independent review.
Miltenberg said the firm’s experience was that Cornell investigations had generally been detailed and thorough.
He also said the defense had encountered due-process concerns affecting respondents and had taken such matters to federal court on at least two occasions.
“In this case, we do not agree with the outcome as to Mr. Lopes,” Miltenberg said.
The alleged victim, identified in court filings as Jane Doe, sued last month, claiming she was pressured to take drugs and sexually assaulted by seven Chi Phi fraternity members at an off-campus residence in 2024
Lopes and the other former members of the Chi Phi fraternity have denied any wrongdoing, and were never charged with any crimes after the Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office concluded there was not enough evidence to convict.
But the case drew renewed attention after the accuser, only referred to in court documents as Jane Doe, filed a civil lawsuit on September 16.
It alleges that she arrived at the fraternity house on October 19, 2024, already heavily intoxicated following a night of drinking in Ithaca.
Doe also alleges she was pressured to take ketamine and given marijuana and high-proof alcohol before being repeatedly sexually assaulted as additional fraternity members entered the room, including Lopes – whom she said kissed her and sexually assaulted her
The complaint goes on to claim seven men eventually participated and that Doe became ‘completely incapacitated.’ She says the ordeal continued until around 5.45am, when she lost consciousness.
It further alleges that during the assault, one fraternity member posted to a ‘Chi Phi Actives’ Snapchat group that there was ‘free p***y’ upstairs, referring to Doe.
‘Like you can walk in and whip it out,’ another member allegedly responded, according to a screenshot described in the filing.
Doe reported the allegations to Cornell University Police on November 8 after friends encouraged her to come forward, according to the lawsuit.
One of the men allegedly posted to the fraternity’s active-members Snapchat group saying that there was ‘free p***y’ upstairs, referring to Doe, according to the filing, which included an image of the purported chat
Massive protests overtook the New York campus this week as students lashed out at the school’s response to the alleged rape
Cornell temporarily suspended the fraternity in the aftermath, and Lopes was handed a three-semester suspension with two years of probation.
He has since returned to campus, but his lawyers say he is now considering leaving the school as he faces harassment from other students, The New York Times reports.
A video on Instagram showed a woman approaching Lopes in a hallway on campus and telling him: ‘I just wanted to let you know personally that I’m ashamed to be on the same campus as you.’
Students have also participated in massive protests against the school’s response to the alleged rape, and the Cornell faculty senate said it plans to vote on a no-confidence resolution against the school’s administrators.
The Daily Mail has reached out to both James’ and Hochul’s office for comment.