Cornell Defendant Seeks to Oust James Over Assault Case Remarks

WHO:

NBC News - Lawyers for Gillio Lopes said they were confident the other six defendants would join his petition.

CNN - Gillio Lopes, a Cornell student accused of sexually assaulting a female classmate, is seeking to have New York Attorney General Letitia James removed from the criminal investigation.

CNN - Andrew Miltenberg represents Lopes; New York State Judge James Farrell will hear arguments. Farrell is a Republican elected to the bench in 2019 and a former Sullivan County district attorney.

CNN - New York Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed James special prosecutor. The state attorney general’s lawyers argue that James’s statement did not prejudge the investigation.

CNN - A second student accused of assaulting Jane Doe filed a separate motion to remove James; it is pending in Tompkins County.

CNN - Cornell’s board of trustees hired Sally Yates, a former deputy U.S. attorney general, to lead an outside investigation of the university’s handling of Doe’s allegations and other reported sexual assaults.

NBC News - Lawyers for one of seven former Cornell fraternity members accused in a high-profile sexual assault suit argued that James is not “viable” as prosecutor.

TMZ - Lopes’s attorneys criticized James over her explanation for calling Jane Doe a survivor.

WHAT:

The Washington Post - At Thursday’s hearing, the judge appeared skeptical that Letitia James could fairly investigate the allegations but questioned whether he could remove her unless all accused men joined the petition.

NBC News - The judge questioned why all defendants had not filed the petition; Lopes’s lawyers said they were confident the other six would join.

NBC News - The judge questioned why all the defendants had not filed the petition to remove Letitia James.

CNN - Miltenberg petitioned a judge to void Hochul’s executive order, arguing James showed “a bias and presumption of guilt” against defendants named in Doe’s civil case, including Lopes.

CNN - James posted on her official X account: “What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable. I’m holding her in my heart and in my prayers. To her, and to all survivors: you’re not alone. We stand with you.”

CNN - James’s lawyers called the post a “single empathetic remark,” described Lopes’s concerns as “wildly speculative,” and said they could be raised again if a criminal case occurs.

CNN - Doe alleged Lopes had sex with her and another student without her consent. Miltenberg denied the allegations and said Lopes’s encounter with Doe was consensual and occurred before messages inviting other fraternity members to Lopes’s room were sent.

CNN - Lopes was suspended for one academic year and required to take a class and submit a “reflective paper” through Cornell’s Title IX process. His attorney said Lopes is attending Cornell and has two semesters left to graduate.

CNN - Cornell’s Faculty Senate is weighing a non-binding no-confidence vote on the university’s handling of the “ongoing crisis of sexual assault”; it would not force the president to resign.

WHERE:

CNN - The alleged assault took place in Lopes’s room at the Chi Phi fraternity house at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

CNN - The second student’s separate motion is pending in Tompkins County.

WHEN:

CNN - James posted the quoted X statement on September 28; Hochul issued the executive order three days later, on October 1.

CNN - Miltenberg filed his petition on October 7.

CNN - CNN reported that James’s X statement was posted “last month”; the article does not specify the hearing’s calendar date.

WHY:

CNN - Cornell’s Faculty Senate’s proposed non-binding no-confidence vote could add pressure on the administration to reassure the campus community that the school is safe.

CNN - Miltenberg told CNN, “It has nothing to do with it being Letitia James,” and said anyone making a statement he viewed as accepting the allegations’ narrative was not the right person to restore confidence in an investigation.

CNN - Miltenberg said James’s remarks went beyond compassion and accepted the allegations’ narrative, making her unsuitable to restore confidence in the investigation.

CNN - Hochul said she had “lost faith” in the Tompkins County district attorney, who had reviewed the allegations and concluded they could not support criminal charges.

HOW:

Fox News - Defense attorneys argued that James’s social media posts showed pre-existing bias in the reopened criminal investigation.

CNN - Miltenberg said he did not dispute Hochul’s authority to appoint an investigator; he argued James had already picked a side.

CNN - Miltenberg said he had seen the Title IX file evidence and, “there was no crime committed that I’m aware of”; he added that if an investigator found a possible crime, “it certainly wasn’t Gillio.”

CNN - James was appointed to investigate through Hochul’s executive order. James’s lawyers argue courts have limited authority to review the governor’s power to appoint the attorney general to supersede or take over an investigation.

CNN - Farrell allotted each side 30 minutes to argue whether James should remain in the role; James is not expected to attend.

(UPDATED October 30, 2026 12:25 UTC)

A Cornell student accused of sexual assault is seeking to remove Attorney General Letitia James from the investigation. The judge questioned her impartiality and whether all defendants must join the petition. James’s lawyers say her remarks showed empathy, not bias; another defendant filed a separate request.

(UPDATED October 30, 2026 04:00 UTC)

A Cornell student accused of sexual assault is asking a judge to remove New York Attorney General Letitia James from the criminal investigation, arguing that her public expression of support for the accuser showed bias. At a hearing, the judge questioned whether James could investigate fairly but also challenged why all seven accused former fraternity members had not joined the petition; the student’s lawyers said they expected the other six to join. James’s lawyers called her post an empathetic remark, while a separate removal motion by another student is pending, and Cornell has hired former deputy U.S. attorney general Sally Yates to review the university’s handling of the allegations.

(UPDATED October 30, 2026 02:01 UTC)

A Cornell student accused of sexual assault is asking a judge to remove New York Attorney General Letitia James from the criminal investigation, arguing that her public statement of support for the accuser showed bias and prejudged the allegations. Gillio Lopes’s lawyer says the encounter was consensual and that James cannot restore confidence in the investigation, while James’s lawyers call the concern speculative and describe her post as a single expression of empathy; a second accused student has filed a separate motion. The dispute comes amid wider scrutiny at Cornell, where trustees have hired former deputy U.S. attorney general Sally Yates to investigate the university’s handling of the allegations, and the Faculty Senate is weighing a non-binding no-confidence vote over the school’s response to sexual assault.

(UPDATED October 29, 2026 23:08 UTC)

A Cornell student accused of sexually assaulting a classmate is asking a judge to remove New York Attorney General Letitia James from the criminal investigation, arguing her public support for the accuser showed bias and prejudged the case. James’s lawyers call her remarks a single expression of empathy, while the student’s attorney denies that a crime occurred and says the encounter was consensual; a second accused student has filed a separate motion to remove James. Cornell’s trustees have hired former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates to investigate the university’s handling of the allegations, and the Faculty Senate is considering a non-binding no-confidence vote over the school’s response to sexual assault cases.

(UPDATED October 29, 2026 20:05 UTC)

A Cornell student accused of sexually assaulting a classmate is asking a judge to remove New York Attorney General Letitia James from the criminal investigation, arguing that her public remarks showed bias and presumption of guilt. James’s lawyers say the post was a single empathetic remark that did not prejudge the case, while the student denies the allegations and says the encounter was consensual; a second accused student has filed a separate motion to remove James. The judge will hear arguments over whether James can remain special prosecutor, as Cornell has hired former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates to investigate the university’s handling of sexual assault allegations and its faculty senate weighs a non-binding no-confidence vote.