New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced at a press conference this morning that she decided to appoint Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor for the Cornell rape investigation because the system “failed” Jane Doe.
Former state and federal prosecutor Mimi Rocah, who previously served as Westchester’s district attorney, used the same language a day before in an editorial for MSNOW calling for Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten — whose jurisdiction typically includes Cornell University — to recuse himself and ask the court to appoint the special prosecutor.
Rocah explained why she reached that conclusion during a Substack Live conversation this morning, clarifying the details of New York’s “voluntary intoxication” law, the legal ramifications of the fraternity brothers’ Snapchat messages, and the unusual aspects of DA Van Houten’s nine-page statement.
As discussed in the video, Doe’s lawsuit largely tracks her signed statement to campus police — with one exception: The police statement has no commentary on what happened, and her civil complaint does. (Compare them here.)
Rocah questioned the purpose of releasing so much information and commentary about the case into the public domain while announcing the opening of an investigation.
“If he charged crimes, the defendants would have said, ‘Yeah, of course you charged crimes. You’re trying to save your reputation here.’ And they would have had a good argument,” Rocah said. “And if he hadn’t charged crimes, she and her lawyer and lots of people out there would have said, ‘Of course you didn’t charge crimes. You didn’t want to look like you made the wrong decision to begin with.’”
She added that many local prosecutors have expressed “shock” about the lack of an investigation.
“There is no question in my mind that he did not do his job here,” she added, referring to Van Houten.
You can watch the archived video of the conversation at the top of this newsletter.
