“Monticello, New York — A New York judge on Thursday sharply questioned attorneys over a request to remove Attorney General Letitia James from her role as the special prosecutor investigating sexual assault allegations at Cornell University. The petition to remove James due to bias was filed by Cornell student Gillio Lopes, one of the seven”, — write on: www.cnn.com
Monticello, New York —
A New York judge on Thursday sharply questioned attorneys over a request to remove Attorney General Letitia James from her role as the special prosecutor investigating sexual assault allegations at Cornell University.
The petition to remove James due to bias was filed by Cornell student Gillio Lopes, one of the seven men accused by Jane Doe of sexually assaulting her at a fraternity party in 2024.
In court, Judge James Farrell questioned why the other six men were not jointly part of the petition.
“It’s not just your client. There are six other people. They’re not part of this litigation. Why?” Farrell asked Lopes’ attorney Andrew Miltenberg. “Say I agree with you. Does she get removed for your client’s case and the other six have her as special prosecutor? How’s that work? Multiple prosecutors for different defendants?”
The judge gave Lopes’ attorney until November 5 to submit additional papers on the other defendants’ positions. “I think you’ve got a real issue with the joinder,” Farrell cautioned.
At issue is a statement James made last month in response to Jane Doe’s lawsuit alleging she was gang-raped at the Chi Phi house in 2024, in a case that has reignited a conversation about sexual assault on college campuses.
“What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable,” James posted on her official X account on September 28. “I’m holding her in my heart and in my prayers. To her, and to all survivors: you’re not alone. We stand with you.”
Three days later, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued an executive order naming James special prosecutor to investigate the allegations.
Miltenberg filed a petition October 7 arguing those comments should disqualify James from leading a criminal investigation, saying she “has unequivocally demonstrated a bias and presumption of guilt” against the men. He is asking a judge to void Hochul’s executive order.
When questioned in court, Miltenberg sought to steer the judge back to his core argument.
“We got here because people were not satisfied with the investigation done by Cornell and the results of that. We’re here because people were not satisfied with the Tompkins County district attorney’s approach to this. Why do we need to put the people of this state in the position of again lacking confidence in the result?”
Outside of court, Miltenberg told reporters some of the other attorneys have contacted him about joining this effort. “I’m confident the other six will join, whether they want to or not,” he said.
Judge Farrell, a Republican elected to the bench in 2019 and a former Sullivan County district attorney, gave each side 30 minutes to make their case Thursday. James, who is running for reelection, did not attend.
Farrell questioned Assistant Attorney General Kaitlin Vigars in court about James’ statement on X about the case. The judge asked if Hochul was aware of that statement when she named James as special prosecutor, and Vigars said she was.
Farrell then asked if James was standing beside Hochul at a press conference following the appointment when the governor said that students like Jane Doe deserve to be heard, protected and fought for.
“This brave young woman deserved that in 2024 and she deserved it now. I’m going to use every part of my power, do everything I possibly can, to make sure that she finally gets it,” Hochul said at the time.
“But wasn’t her stated purpose in appointing the attorney general to be … objective?” Farrell asked. “Is that a problem?”
Vigars said she doesn’t believe it’s an “impediment” to an investigation, noting a prosecutor “has a duty of fair dealing to the accused.”
A spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney General issued a statement shortly after the hearing ended defending their position.
“As indicated in our motion before the court, these claims are without merit. The Office of the Attorney General remains committed to conducting an investigation guided only by the facts, the evidence, and the law,” the spokesperson said.
The petition is one of two legal challenges to remove James from the case. A separate motion, which was filed by another student accused of assaulting Doe that night, is pending in Tompkins County.
The hearing came as the Cornell Faculty Senate is weighing a no-confidence vote on Cornell’s handling of the “ongoing crisis of sexual assault” at the university. The non-binding vote would not force the resignation of Cornell’s president, but it could add pressure to the administration as it tries to shore up confidence that the campus is safe.
The school’s board of trustees hired Sally Yates, a former deputy US attorney general, to lead an outside investigation into Cornell’s handling of Doe’s allegations and other reported instances of sexual assaults. Cornell announced Thursday that during Yates’ review, sexual assault survivors who elect to pursue criminal charges will be able to choose whether to have State Police or Cornell Police investigate.
Hochul issued the executive order on October 1, after she said she “lost faith” in the Tompkins County district attorney who had previously looked into the allegations and concluded they could not support criminal charges.
Miltenberg said he doesn’t dispute that Hochul has the authority to appoint someone to investigate the allegations, but he believes James has already picked a side.
“It has nothing to do with it being Letitia James,” Miltenberg told CNN. “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.”
Lawyers for the attorney general said courts have limited authority to review the governor’s use of her powers to appoint the attorney general to supersede, or take over, an investigation.
They also said Lopes’ concerns are “wildly speculative,” and James’ statement was a “single empathetic remark” that does not mean she prejudged the investigation. His concerns are premature and could be renewed when, and if, there is ever a criminal case, they added.
Doe accused Lopes of having sex with her and another student that she did not consent to.
Miltenberg denied the allegations. He previously told CNN that Lopes was not involved in facilitating or encouraging others to participate in the alleged assault, and emphasized that Lopes’ own encounter with Doe was consensual and happened before any messages inviting other fraternity members to his room were sent. The alleged assault took place in Lopes’ room.
“I’ve seen all of the evidence in the Title IX file; there was no crime committed that I’m aware of, and to the extent an investigator decides there was the possibility of a crime, it certainly wasn’t Gillio,” Miltenberg previously told CNN.
Lopes was suspended for one academic year and was required to take a class and submit a “reflective paper” about what happened, following the Title IX process. He is currently attending Cornell with two semesters left to graduate, his attorney said.
This story has been updated with additional information.