Governor rebukes DA’s handling of Cornell sex assault case as records reportedly show prosecutor declined more evidence

By Isa Mudannayake, CNN

(CNN) — Outrage is building as the case involving a Cornell University student allegedly gang raped in a fraternity house in October 2024 continues to garner national attention, with the state attorney general replacing the local prosecutor on the case and the governor vowing she “will not allow anyone to sweep this case under the rug.”

Here’s the latest:

• DA declined additional evidence: The Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office in November 2024 declined to review any additional evidence, including more interviews, gathered by the campus police department beyond the six-page statement signed by accuser Jane Doe, records obtained by the New York Times show. Prosecutors did not express interest in the additional evidence because they had decided, based on Doe’s statement, “Criminal charges would not be pursued in this case,” a Cornell police investigator said in a note documenting the call.
• Jane Doe’s explicit rape accusation: Doe’s attorney believes his client did not consent to any of the sexual encounters that are the focus of her allegations and was initially “in denial” about what transpired before starting to feel ashamed and finally realizing she had been raped, he told CNN. Doe told Cornell police in 2024 she was “pretty ok” with aspects of an initial encounter but did not consent to other sexual activities later that night, according to a statement CNN obtained from a source familiar with the investigation. In a separate transcript of a November 2024 interview with police, she said, “I can say with 100% confidence I was raped,” according to CNN affiliate WCBS, which obtained the document. Prosecutors did not receive the transcript when Cornell police furnished Doe’s much briefer written statement, according to the local DA and New York’s governor.
• State AG takes over: New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ office has opened a criminal investigation into the allegations, she said. James is replacing Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten in overseeing the case. Although her office is limited in what it can share, it will provide updates “as they become available,” James said Friday morning. Both Van Houten, who has been DA since 2017, and Cornell have said they support James’ appointment. Both are Democrats.
• ‘I want the truth’: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she is “deeply disturbed” with how Cornell police conducted the original investigation following the alleged gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024. Vowing to unravel the investigation’s failures, the Democratic governor said Friday, “In what world would the police learn from a victim that she’d been literally gang raped while intoxicated by five men in a fraternity house and not elevate those allegations to the district attorney?”
• Closing a New York law “loophole”: It’s time for New York to change its sexual assault law, which excludes victims who willfully became intoxicated, the governor said. She vowed to help ensure the law changes as soon as possible, a shift activists and some lawmakers have long sought. “Voluntary intoxication is not a license for sexual assault or gang rape. Period,” Hochul said.
• Professors and students condemn school’s approach: “We are deeply disturbed by Cornell University administration’s response and communications to the community, initially in 2024 and now,” wrote the Cornell chapter of the American Association of University Professors, lambasting the school’s “failures.” Current and former students have also criticized the school, which canceled all social fraternity events this weekend, internal communications obtained by The Cornell Daily Sun show. The national president of Doe’s sorority called the alleged assault “abhorrent and inexcusable.” Cornell student groups plan to protest on campus Monday to “hold our university responsible,” Students for a Democratic Cornell and others posted.

Records offer insight into assault allegations and aftermath

Snapchat messages, a Cornell disciplinary panel’s decision and a cache of documents from the university’s formal Title IX investigation obtained by The New York Times have shed new light on what may have happened in the fraternity house, Doe’s reported frame of mind at certain points on the night that began October 19, 2024, and how her understanding of the events changed as she processed her trauma in the weeks that followed.

Cornell is facing scrutiny because the university initially said campus police investigated the allegations in 2024 and “shared all investigatory information with the Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office.” But the school later changed its statement, now saying police investigated the allegations in 2024 and “shared the victim’s sworn statement and the Snapchat screenshot” with the DA’s office.

Van Houten previously said his office did not bring criminal charges because of Doe’s six-page statement. He later said his office had access to some Snapchat messages exchanged during the alleged assault in a group chat titled, “Chi Phi Actives.” Images of one Snapchat chain obtained by CNN include a photo of Doe in a room at the fraternity house during the time she describes being assaulted.

Doe made an explicit allegation of rape in her interview that was not included in the six-page statement furnished to prosecutors, according to WCBS. Although Doe did recount being hit and feeling emotionally coerced in the statement, it did not include some stronger language or allegations she used in her interview, according to The New York Times, citing documents it obtained.

Among the documents obtained by the Times also were records showing the district attorney’s office declined to review any additional evidence gathered by the campus police department beyond the six-page statement signed by Doe. A Cornell police investigator spoke to a member of the district attorney’s staff on November 25, 2024, about reviewing additional evidence, the Times said. By that time, university police had conducted more interviews and reviewed chat messages, the Times report said.

But prosecutors did not express interest in the additional evidence because they had decided that, based on Doe’s statement, “Criminal charges would not be pursued in this case,” a Cornell police investigator said in a note documenting the call. When reached for comment, the district attorney staff member referred all questions to the district attorney, the Times reported.

Van Houten told the Times by email that any additional records gathered by the Cornell police were “not pertinent to our analysis because we had Jane Doe’s comprehensive account of the events.” CNN reached out to Van Houten’s office for comment Friday.

CNN obtained a copy of a heavily redacted, 99-page document summarizing key evidence included in a Cornell disciplinary panel’s decision, which supports the Times’ findings about how Doe later came to understand the night’s events as assault. The panel’s decision details more than 50 interviews, including with six of the seven accused men.

The initial university investigation led to suspensions and expulsions for the accused students, according to Doe’s attorney, the barring of the fraternity chapter from campus and the launch of a sexual assault task force. Four of the Chi Phi fraternity members acknowledged having sexual contact with Doe but said their interactions had been consensual. The others denied participating in sexual encounters, the Times reported.

Amid the renewed investigation, court documents show a Chi Phi fraternity member named as a defendant in Doe’s civil suit has been petitioning New York state courts to invalidate a university disciplinary decision that found him responsible for attempted sexual exploitation.

Help is available: For help in the US, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or chat 24/7 on online.rainn.org.

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CNN’s Rebekah Riess, Holly Yan, Jessie Yeung, Gloria Pazmino, Jason Carroll, Alisha Ebrahimji and Jake Tapper contributed to this report.