The argument to remove New York Attorney General Letitia James from the Cornell University sexual assault investigation is expanding… four additional defendants named in the civil lawsuit are looking to join the effort.
New court documents filed Thursday, Nov. 5, obtained by Los Angeles, reveal that Diego Sarabia, Scott Kretzschmar, Winston Lee and Scott Norris are joining Gillio Lopes’ legal challenge to James’ appointment as special prosecutor in the potential criminal investigation. The criminal investigation stems from an alleged sexual assault at Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024.
The latest filings hit the docket one week after Acting Supreme Court Judge James Farrell questioned why Lopes was the only man participating in the challenge during an October 29 hearing, which Los Angeles Magazine attended. Farrell questioned how he could rule on removing James from an investigation involving seven men when only one had brought the challenge. He gave Lopes’ attorneys until Nov. 5 to address the issue.
Lopes’ attorney, Andrew Miltenberg, says his team has contacted the other men and their lawyers. His six-page affirmation states that Sarabia, Kretzschmar and Lee have agreed to join the effort to remove James. Norris also wants to join but has reserved the right to determine how he participates.
The two remaining men, Matthew Ingalls and Johnathan Newell, have not responded; the filing shows they do not have attorneys listed yet. Miltenberg also says his office could not locate contact information for Ingalls, while Newell did not respond to an October 30 email.
The latest court documents also show another fairly big development. On Wednesday, Nov. 4, James announced that she had appointed Jacqueline Kelly, a former federal prosecutor who previously served as chief of the Civil Rights Unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, to lead the Cornell criminal investigation. Kelly prosecuted Sean “Diddy” Combs and Peter Nygard. But the appointment of Kelly doesn’t fix the issue, says Lopes’ team.
Miltenberg argues that although Kelly will lead the investigation, it remains unclear how much control James will retain behind the scenes. The defense wants to know whether James can still approve criminal charges, review evidence and witness credibility assessments, lead investigators, make decisions involving a grand jury or even remove Kelly from the case.
https://twitter.com/conlin_lauren/status/2115896186557403517?a=N2XxhJHqpa1xAKHZLh8&s=20
The argument goes back to a September 28 social media post in which James expressed support for the woman who brought the allegations, identified in court documents as Jane Doe.
“What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable,” James wrote, adding that she stood with survivors.
Three days later, Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed James special prosecutor, taking control of the reopened criminal investigation away from Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten.
As Los Angeles Magazine previously reported, Lopes’ attorneys argue that James’ public comments suggested she had already accepted Doe’s allegations before reviewing the evidence.
The defense acknowledges that James did not explicitly declare the men guilty, but argues that her comments created concerns about whether she could oversee an impartial investigation. James’ office has maintained that it will conduct a fair investigation guided by the facts and the law. The state has also opposed Lopes’ push, arguing that the governor had the authority to appoint James and that her public comments did not establish improper bias.
The allegations date to October 19, 2024, when Jane Doe claims she was drugged and sexually assaulted by multiple men during a night involving Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity house in Ithaca, New York. Cornell previously conducted its own Title IX investigation, which resulted in various sanctions against students.
The judge has not yet ruled on the new request.
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