Hochul supports closing ‘voluntary intoxication loophole’

Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the investigation of an alleged 2024 rape at Cornell University on Thursday, while throwing her support behind changes to New York’s sexual assault laws she says have been highlighted by the case.

The developments come as Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie says a bill aimed at addressing what advocates call the state’s “voluntary intoxication loophole” still needs work and does not currently have enough support among Assembly Democrats to pass. 

Hochul said at a Friday morning news conference she had lost confidence in Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten’s ability to oversee the Cornell investigation, citing concerns with how the original case was handled.

Van Houten’s office declined to bring charges following their initial investigation but recently said it would reopen the case amid new scrutiny. Hochul cited Friday to reports that prosecutors did not interview the woman who made the allegation and that key portions of her account were omitted from a condensed report provided by Cornell University police as catalyzing her decision to step in. 

James said her office has opened an active criminal investigation and will review evidence and interview witnesses before determining whether prosecution is warranted.

Hochul was asked if she had confidence in James given that she has made charged statements about the case on social media in recent days, Hochul affirmed her support which has also been extended by District Attorney Van Houten.

“I have every confidence in our attorney general to do what she has always done: look at the facts, examine the record and draw the proper conclusions,” she said.

The Cornell case has also intensified a years-long debate in Albany over how New York law treats sexual assault allegations involving people who become incapacitated after voluntarily consuming drugs or alcohol.

“This case has exposed another problem we need to address, a gap in state law,” Hochul said Friday.

Hochul backed changing the law and said lawmakers could take up the issue early in the 2027 legislative session, downplaying previous talk of a special session.

“There is legislation that has passed one of the houses,” Hochul said. “We can take a look at that, talk to the sponsors.”

Legislation sponsored by state Sen. Nathalia Fernandez and Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz would change the definition of “mentally incapacitated” under state law to include circumstances in which a person is temporarily incapable of consenting because of the effects of drugs or intoxicating substances, regardless of whether those substances were administered without the person’s consent.

The measure has repeatedly passed the state Senate but has not received a floor vote in the Assembly. In the upper chamber, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has indicated support for the Senate taking up the legislation again.

Heastie announced this week that he had formed a 14-member working group to examine the state’s sexual assault laws and make recommendations before the end of the year.

In a statement to Spectrum News 1, Heastie said Assembly Democrats have discussed the existing legislation twice but it did not have enough support within the majority conference to pass.

“As I have said, I am very troubled by what happened at Cornell,” he said. “The Assembly Majority conferenced this bill twice. We did not have enough votes within the Majority conference to pass the bill. That is why I have convened the working group to resolve the issues with this bill and to look for additional ways to strengthen New York’s sexual assault laws.”

Dinowitz, who was appointed to the working group, said Friday he sees no reason to not pass the legislation as is.

“Let’s just get it done,” Dinowitz said. “The wording of the bill is not that complicated, it just changes a few words in the law.”

Some lawmakers and public defense organizations have raised concerns that the proposal is overly broad and could increase the risk of wrongful convictions, including among Black and brown defendants.

Dinowitz said he believes the attention surrounding the Cornell case could change the political dynamics in the Assembly, and therefore Heastie’s willingness to bring the bill to the floor for a vote.

“I think he does what the conference would like him to do, and I have confidence in the speaker,” Dinowitz said.

State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a Bronx Democrat who supports the bill, rejected concerns about its language this week.

“Consent is consent, and when consent is taken away, it is taken away,” Rivera said.

Heastie’s working group is expected to make recommendations before the end of the year, setting up possible action when lawmakers return to Albany in January.

A separate proposal under consideration would make changes to the definition of “physically helpless” under state law in the context of consent.