Overview
- The Tompkins County investigation into an alleged October 2024 gang rape at Cornell was reopened after the woman filed a civil suit, and Governor Kathy Hochul designated New York Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor to handle the case.
- The plaintiff says she was drugged and raped by seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity after consuming alcohol and ketamine, and the county prosecutor originally declined to press charges citing police reports that described consensual encounters.
- Cornell has closed the Chi Phi chapter and imposed sanctions on the students involved, including suspension and expulsion, while the criminal probe and the civil lawsuit both proceed.
- Governor Hochul said the law treating voluntary intoxication as a barrier to prosecution should change and pledged to work with lawmakers to amend the statute that critics say limits prosecutors in cases involving alcohol or drugs.
- Advocates and experts note that roughly 20 states have similar legal gaps, several states recently revised those rules, and any New York change could affect campus reporting, prosecutorial decisions, and fraternity oversight across the country.