Overview
- A civil lawsuit filed in September by a woman identified as Jane Doe alleges she was drugged and gang raped at Cornell’s Chi Phi house in October 2024 and names Cornell, the fraternity and seven men who deny the claims.
- Governor Kathy Hochul appointed New York Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor on Oct. 1 and Tompkins County prosecutors reopened the criminal inquiry to consider presenting evidence to a grand jury.
- On Oct. 8 an attorney for defendant Gillio Lopes filed an Article 78 petition in Albany County Supreme Court seeking to disqualify James on the basis that her Sept. 28 social‑media post expressing support for the accuser shows prejudgment; an Article 78 is a state court challenge to an official action.
- Cornell has backed an independent review and the special‑prosecutor appointment while students and some faculty have staged large protests, a prolonged sit‑in and a no‑confidence measure over how the university handled the case.
- The court’s decision on the petition could limit who leads the criminal inquiry and affect the timing of any grand jury review, with broader implications for prosecutorial neutrality, campus policy and public confidence in the process.