Three days before Governor Kathy Hochul appointed her special prosecutor in the Cornell sexual assault case, New York Attorney General Letitia James posted on Facebook that the accuser had been forced to endure something "horrific and unacceptable" and called her a "survivor." On October 7, one of the seven accused men filed a legal challenge asking a judge to remove her from the investigation — using that post as Exhibit A.
The person tasked with deciding whether criminal charges are warranted had already rendered her verdict on social media.
Gillio Lopes, represented by attorney Andrew Miltenberg, filed an Article 78 petition in Albany County Supreme Court challenging both James's appointment and Governor Hochul's authority to make it. The petition argues James "unequivocally demonstrated a bias and presumption of guilt against the defendants named in the Civil Case" before she reviewed a single page of evidence. The alleged assault dates back to October 19, 2024, and Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit against seven men — Lopes, Matthew Ingalls, Johnathan Newell, Winston Lee, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris, and Scott Kretzsch — in September 2026.
James's September 28 post read: "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." Hochul appointed her on October 1. The math is not complicated.
Miltenberg put it plainly: "A person reporting sexual assault deserves compassion and respect. An investigation also requires an open mind about what happened and each individual's conduct." Criminal defense attorney Mark Bederow, commenting on the filing, was more direct. "She absolutely prejudged this matter, as evidenced by her Facebook post in which she called the accuser a 'victim' and 'survivor,'" Bederow told LA Mag. "Those are conclusory words."
Bederow added something worth noting. He said the Article 78 challenge "is likely to fail primarily because courts try to avoid to meddle in the administrative affairs of the Executive branch, especially where the Governor had the authority to appoint James." Then he said the motion "absolutely should be granted." A legal expert who thinks you'll lose but should win is not hedging. He's describing a system that protects its own.
CNN's own Elie Honig wrote in New York Magazine that "the single most indispensable trait in any prosecutor...is impartiality." Jonathan Turley called James "one of the most political prosecutors in the country" — a woman who previously pledged to prosecute Donald Trump without specifying a crime and converted her staff into what Turley described as "personal attorneys targeting political enemies." When CNN's legal analyst and a George Washington University law professor both question your objectivity, the problem isn't the defense attorney filing a motion. It's you.
Hochul tapped James after publicly stating she had lost confidence in Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, who declined to bring charges in 2024 based on information from Cornell University Police and the Title IX process. Van Houten later noted his office hadn't received the full 120-page interview transcript when making the original decision. So Hochul replaced a DA she deemed insufficient with an AG who'd already decided the outcome on Facebook. Cornell, meanwhile, announced on October 6 that former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates would lead an independent review of the university's handling of the case.
At an October 2 press conference, Hochul said she had "every confidence in our Attorney General to do what she has always done." James, asked about the Facebook post, responded: "I will not comment on a Facebook post." The post she wrote. Under her name. On a public platform. Three days before she got the job.
The filing landed the same week a CNN legal analyst described Hochul's handling of the case as a "kangaroo court." The accuser deserves a real investigation. So do the accused. What none of them deserve is a prosecutor who announced her conclusions before the investigation started.
