Gov. Kathy Hochul has issued an executive order appointing Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the Cornell sexual assault case, an NBC News anchor said during a live broadcast.
The anchor said Hochul named a reason tied to 2024 and called it the reason for the appointment. The on-air reading of her explanation was fragmentary, so her full rationale is not established here. The order comes as a woman identified as Jane Doe has filed a civil lawsuit against Cornell University and seven fraternity members. The anchor said the suit alleges she was sexually assaulted, raped and pressured into taking drugs at a party two years ago.
Developing, unverified from this broadcast: the text of the executive order, Hochul's complete stated reason, and what authority or scope James will have. The broadcast did not say.
PBS NewsHour's coverage fills in the allegations. It says Jane Doe alleges multiple men assaulted her at a party at the Chi Phi fraternity house, where she was given alcohol and pressured to snort ketamine. PBS says she contends authorities failed to do enough.
Cornell says it investigated and took disciplinary action, including suspensions, expulsions and a ban on the Chi Phi chapter, according to PBS. The Cornell Student Assembly held a special meeting to discuss anger over how the case was handled.
Criminal charges were never filed.
The district attorney said the details did not support criminal charges at the time, per PBS. CBS News reported that the DA said New York's law kept him from bringing charges, because the alleged victim admitted to voluntarily drinking and taking ketamine. CBS also reported that several state lawmakers are pushing to change the law so it focuses on whether a victim was capable of consenting.
New reporting from The New York Times, discussed on PBS NewsHour, says Cornell police left key information out of a statement given to local law enforcement. That includes Jane Doe's statement: "I can say with 100% confidence I was raped." Times reporter Sharon Otterman told PBS the paper reviewed about 1,100 pages from Cornell's internal inquiry. It includes interviews with Jane Doe, six of the seven men she accused and about 20 witnesses.
NBC News' Maggie Vespa reported on text messages that show how Jane Doe's understanding of her night at the fraternity house appeared to evolve. One day after the incident, she texted one of the accused men: "At the end of the day, none of the sexual stuff was illegal." Two weeks after the incident, she texted him: "Let's be clear that 90% of what happened that night was not consensual." NBC says some of the texts were obtained by The New York Times and others by NBC News.
CNN, as surfaced by Jake Tapper, reports that Snapchat messages exchanged during the alleged assault include a photo of Jane Doe in a room at the fraternity house. CNN says it obtained images of the chain.
Asked by a reporter whether Cornell has done enough to investigate, the president said, per a Forbes Breaking News video: "Well, I don't know that much about it, but Cornell's a fine school, and I'm sure they'll do what's right."
Cornell's discipline is on the record. So is the DA's decision not to charge. James now has to deal with both.