Hochul strips Cornell rape case from local DA, names state attorney general special prosecutor

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Thursday removing the Tompkins County district attorney from a closely watched criminal investigation into an alleged gang rape at Cornell University, appointing Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor instead. Hochul and James were scheduled to detail the move at a joint briefing Friday morning, according to NBC New York, a rare state-level intervention in a local prosecution that has roiled the Ivy League campus for weeks.

The case centers on a lawsuit, filed last month, alleging that a Cornell student was plied with ketamine, marijuana and alcohol before being subjected to sex acts by a group of men while partially or entirely incapacitated at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024. The suit names seven fraternity brothers along with Cornell and the Chi Phi organization itself. Lawyers for two of the named defendants have denied their clients' involvement.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten closed the matter without charges in 2024, saying the accuser's initial statement to campus police did not allege she had been drugged without her knowledge or had not consented. After the lawsuit was filed in September, Van Houten reopened the investigation and said his office would present evidence to a grand jury, a reversal that itself drew criticism. Hochul's office said the governor "had lost faith" in the local prosecutor's ability to handle the case fairly, according to PBS NewsHour.

Cornell has said it conducted its own disciplinary investigation in 2024 that resulted in sanctions, including expulsions and suspensions, and that the Chi Phi chapter was permanently closed and barred from campus. The school has declined to specify how many students were disciplined, citing federal student-privacy law. The case has drawn national attention and followed a 2025 campus survey in which 35% of Cornell undergraduate women reported experiencing sexual assault during their time at the university.

James's office has not yet detailed how it will proceed, including whether it will seek an indictment from a new grand jury or build on evidence already gathered by Van Houten's team. The appointment places one of the most prominent elected law-enforcement officials in the country directly in charge of a case that has become a flashpoint in a broader national reckoning over how elite universities and local prosecutors handle allegations of sexual violence on campus.