NY's governor appoints special prosecutor in Cornell frat rape investigation
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed the state attorney general as a special prosecutor to investigate the alleged gang rape of a woman at Cornell University. This decision removes the Tompkins County District Attorney from overseeing the case, citing a loss of faith in his office's ability to handle it fairly. The investigation was reopened after the victim filed a civil lawsuit that brought national attention to the allegations and new evidence.
- ▪Governor Hochul stated that new information raised serious questions about how the case was previously handled by the Tompkins County DA's office.
- ▪The victim, identified as Jane Doe, alleges she was drugged and raped by seven men at a Cornell fraternity house in 2024.
- ▪District Attorney Matthew Van Houten had initially declined to file charges, claiming insufficient evidence, but reopened the case after the civil lawsuit was filed.
- ▪The state attorney general will lead the investigation and present evidence to a grand jury if warranted.
- ▪Cornell University provided evidence to the DA's office, including a Snapchat chat where fraternity members discussed a sexual encounter with the victim.
3 outlets in our directory ran this story, first to last over 3 hours. All of the coverage we found sits in one bucket: lean left. That one-sidedness is itself worth noticing.
- ▪ Letitia James appointed special prosecutor in alleged gang-rape at Cornell — The Guardian — World
- ▪ Hochul Names Letitia James as Special Prosecutor in Cornell Case — NYT — Home
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| Original publisher | BBC News |
| Canonical URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr1585y0y90go?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss |
| Publication time | Fri, 02 Oct 2026 02:49:44 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-10-02T03:00:44.552Z |
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NY's governor appoints special prosecutor in Cornell frat rape investigation<div class="ssrcss-1553su4-ErrorMessage eitf6465"><div class="ssrcss-h7lv7m-StyledInnerContainer eitf6464"><div class="ssrcss-nbxsk2-TextContent eitf6461"><h2 type="normal" class="ssrcss-89o2pv-Heading e10rt3ze0">To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.</h2><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">This video can not be played</p></div></div></div>Figure caption, Cornell students voice frustration at public hearing over rape caseBySareen HabeshianPublished2 October 2026, 03:08 BSTUpdated 10 minutes agoNew York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed the state's attorney general as a special prosecutor in investigating the alleged gang rape of a woman at Cornell University.The woman has…
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