MONTICELLO, N.Y. — A New York judge on Thursday appeared skeptical that Attorney General Letitia James (D) could fairly investigate allegations of sexual assault at Cornell University but questioned whether he could remove her from the case unless all of the accused men joined the petition seeking her removal.
Judge James R. Farrell held the hearing in Sullivan County after attorneys for one of the men who had been accused in a lawsuit of raping a woman at the university in 2024 challenged Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) decision to name James a special prosecutor in the case.
Hochul appointed James on Oct. 1, drawing criticism from Republicans and some legal scholars who accused the attorney general of prejudging the case. They cited a post James made on X, stating, “What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable.”
“I’m holding her in my heart and in my prayers,” James wrote on Sept. 28. “To her, and to all survivors: you’re not alone. We stand with you.”
On Oct. 7, attorneys Andrew T. Miltenberg and Stuart Bernstein filed a petition on behalf of one of the men accused in the case that alleged James displayed “prejudice.” The petition asked that James be removed as special prosecutor so Hochul could appoint someone else.
“Respectfully, the public has lost faith with Attorney James,” Bernstein said in court. “She has shown no presumption of innocence, she has shown she picked sides … so the question before you: Is she qualified to serve as special prosecutor in this case?”
Kaitlin Vigars, an assistant New York attorney general who is representing Hochul and James in the matter, responded that it was premature for the attorneys to argue that James has shown bias in the case.
Citing recent legal precedent, Vigars said that Hochul had firm legal grounds to appoint a special prosecutor and noted that James was only in the preliminary stages of examining the allegations. If one of the accused believes James has prejudged the case, they would have an opportunity to argue that if there is an indictment, Vigars said.
“The harm alleged must be sufficient, direct, immediate and felt in a concrete way,” Vigars told the court. “For a petitioner to experience that harm, first the result of the investigation would need to implicate him.”
Vigars added that “there is no reason to believe that the investigation is not going to follow where the facts lead it.” She is asking the court to dismiss the petition.
But Farrell aggressively questioned Vigars about James’s social media post, which he noted had been viewed by more than 600,000 people. He also questioned why James stood next to Hochul the following day at a news conference where the governor also expressed sympathy for the victim.
“It’s probably not a great idea for a prosecutor to engage in that sort of conduct,” Farrell said, adding it could conflict with “ethical” rules.
But Farrell also appeared skeptical that he could rule on the case without all of those accused joining the petition to have James removed. He said it could be unfair to the six others accused in the lawsuit if he made a decision that only impacts one of them.
The rape allegations gained national attention after the accuser filed a lawsuit last month. None of the accused students faced criminal charges after the accuser reported the incident to campus police.
“It’s not a one-defendant case,” Farrell said. “It’s a potential for seven. You can’t have seven different proceedings.”
Miltenberg and Bernstein asked for additional time to consider the matter.
Farrell agreed, telling the attorneys they had one week to respond by either getting the other six men to join the petition or by filing additional legal briefs backing up their belief that they do not need them to be a party to the case.
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Miltenberg said he felt it “was likely” the other six men would enjoin the case.
“The judge, I see, wants to hear from the other parties and he will,” Miltenberg said.
On Thursday, Cornell’s president, Michael Kotlikoff, announced that the university has signed an agreement with the New York State Police that will enable people alleging they are victims of sexual assault to choose whether to have state or campus police serve as the investigatory agency on their cases if they want to pursue criminal charges.
The agreement is effective immediately. Cases managed by the state police will be independent from Cornell.
Susan Svrluga contributed to this report.
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