MONTICELLO, N.Y. — Should social media posts disqualify New York’s attorney general from leading a criminal investigation into gang rape allegations at Cornell University?
Within days, lawyers for two of the men named as defendants in Jane Doe‘s lawsuit filed challenges to James’ appointment — one that Judge James R. The judge appeared skeptical of the challenge, asking why the other six defendants hadn’t joined, and questioned whether he had the authority to kick James off their cases as well. The former Cornell student identified in court papers as Jane Doe filed a lawsuit last month alleging that several men raped her at a fraternity party in October 2024. James, a Democrat, did not attend the hearing in Monticello, about 72 miles northwest of Manhattan.
The former student said some of the men pressured her into using ketamine and marijuana and that she drank alcohol that left her too intoxicated to consent. That’s the question before a state judge on Thursday as one of the accused men seeks to remove Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor overseeing the renewed criminal probe. Farrell is hearing on Thursday, and the other in Tompkins County, where Cornell is located.
The lawyer, Andrew Miltenberg, wants the judge to order the governor to pick a different special prosecutor.
Before the hearing, the man’s other lawyer said James’ social media posts showed she “affirmed and accepted” Jane Doe’s account of what happened, meaning she had already made up her mind about the defendants’ guilt before taking the case. He told reporters outside court that there are “thousands of people in this state — retired judges, mediators, retired law enforcement, other district attorneys’ offices — that could handle this investigation.”
