N.Y. judge weighs whether to remove AG James from Cornell rape case

Oct. 29 (UPI) — A New York judge was set on Thursday to hear arguments on whether New York Attorney General James should remain as special prosecutor in the case against Cornell University students accused of sexually assaulting a female classmate in 2024.

Sullivan County, N.Y., Court Judge James Farrell was scheduled to conduct the hearing at 2 p.m. EDT at the county courthouse in Monticello, N.Y., WAMC Radio, Albany, N.Y., and CNN reported.

Under the rules of the hearing, Cornell defendant Gillio Lopes, who has brought the case, and James’ representatives will each have 30 minutes to make their cases.

A second man accused in the alleged fraternity house gang rape, Winston Lee, has also asked that James be removed as special prosecutor.

Lopes and Lee have denied they sexually assaulted the woman, who has sued them and six other men.

The woman, who is identified only as Jane Doe in court documents, filed the civil suit last month. In it, she alleges she “was plied with alcohol and drugs to the point of intoxication” and raped by members of the Chi Phi fraternity house over a seven-hour span on Oct. 19, 2024.

Lawyers for the men maintain that the attorney general “has already publicly prejudged the guilt” of the seven men accused in the lawsuit, citing comments she made when assigned the post, which came years after a local prosecutor filed no charges in the case.

“To her and all other survivors: You’re not alone. We stand with you.” James wrote in a statement on X. “What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable.”

Shortly afterwards, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued an executive order naming her special prosecutor to investigate the case.

In Lopes’ suit, Attorney Andrew Miltenberg is asking that the governor’s executive order be nullified.

“It has nothing to do with it being Letitia James,” Miltenberg told CNN on Thursday. “No one who made that statement, which we think goes beyond compassion to accepting the narrative of the allegations, is the right person to restore confidence in an investigation.”