Hochul appoints Letitia James special prosecutor in the Cornell Chi Phi case

This is analysis, not a finding about what happened that night. Appointing a special prosecutor changes who can investigate and who can take a case to a grand jury, and a grand jury hears a prosecutor's evidence rather than trying the case. The sworn statement a district attorney actually received is the document measured against the elements of a New York offense, which is why the fight over that six-page statement is about charging authority.

Hochul's Executive Order No. 64, signed Oct. 1, requires the attorney general to investigate and, if warranted, present evidence to a grand jury and prosecute offenses arising from the allegations in a civil complaint filed in New York County. The order says James's jurisdiction displaces and supersedes the Tompkins County district attorney. On Friday, Oct. 2, James said her office had opened an active criminal investigation. She said the office will review the facts, gather evidence, interview witnesses, and, if warranted, pursue prosecutions.

Van Houten's office declined to bring charges in November 2024. On Sept. 27 and 28, 2026, he said he was reopening the matter and preparing it for a Tompkins County grand jury. He has said the six-page sworn statement his office received did not allege nonconsensual conduct under New York law, and he has said he supports handing the case to James. ABC News reported on Oct. 3 that documents show the district attorney's office, in November 2024, declined to review Cornell police interview material beyond that six-page summary of the woman's statement.

In mid-September 2026, the woman, identified in court papers as Jane Doe, filed a civil lawsuit in Manhattan against seven men, the fraternity, Cornell, and others. Cornell has said it supports the special prosecutor and an outside review of how the university handled the case. One former member, identified in a separate court case only as John Doe, sued Cornell to clear a disciplinary finding from his academic record. Reporting says a judge dismissed that case and that an appeal is pending. No one has been charged, and the men named in the civil suit deny the allegations.