The renewed investigation into the alleged 2024 gang rape at a Cornell University frat house has propelled a broader conversation about consent — and laws surrounding it, including in New York. <\/p>\n
A former Cornell student, identified only as Jane Doe in court documents, told campus police in November of 2024 that she was sexually assaulted, then discussed it with the university\u2019s internal investigators as part of Cornell\u2019s disciplinary process.<\/p>\n
The initial investigation closed with no criminal charges filed (although some of the accused were suspended, some expelled and others tasked with writing an essay).<\/p>\n
But the case, gained renewed interest when last month, the woman filed a lawsuit against seven frat brothers, the university, the Chi Phi frat and others alleging she was plied with drugs and alcohol, then subjected to sexual acts by a group of men while she was partially or entirely incapacitated. One of the men sent a social media message to other fraternity members alerting them to what was happening, and inviting people to take part, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
Lawyers for two of the men she is suing have denied they participated in a sexual assault. One said his client hadn\u2019t touched the woman. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach the other men or their representatives have been unsuccessful.<\/p>\n
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten reopened the investigation following the lawsuit. He has since been bombarded by criticism that he abandoned the original investigation too quickly.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul took Van Houten off the case and assigned the attorney general will oversee the investigation and, if warranted, present evidence to a grand jury, Hochul said.<\/p>\n
Van Houten didn’t immediately respond to Thursday messages seeking comment.<\/p>\n
What is the ‘voluntary intoxication exclusion’ loophole?<\/p>\n
Experts say there is a legal “loophole” in not only New York but nearly two dozen other states, when it comes to rape laws and consent: it is nearly impossible for victims to seek justice if they voluntarily consume drugs or alcohol and then are sexually assaulted.<\/p>\n
As it stands now in New York State law, <\/a>a person is incapable of consent if they are “mentally incapacitated” which is defined as <\/a>a “person is rendered temporarily incapable of appraising or controlling his conduct owing to the influence of a narcotic or intoxicating substance administered to him without his consent, or to any other act committed upon him without his consent.”<\/p>\n The loophole is that in order for there to not be consent, a person has to be drugged or given an intoxicating substance without their knowledge. The law does not apply if someone voluntarily consumes alcohol or drugs and were then attacked. <\/p>\n Now, there is a renewed call to get rid of this distinction. <\/p>\n “Voluntary intoxication is not a license for sexual assault or gang rape. Period,” the governor said during a Friday press conference on the matter. <\/p>\n Policy makers and activists demand a change<\/p>\n A group called Justice Without Exclusion, has been pressuring Albany lawmakers for years to prioritize closing the voluntary intoxication loophole. Lizzie Asher, one of the group\u2019s co-founders, said more than two dozen other states make it a crime to have sex with someone too intoxicated to consent.\u00a0She said it should be a scandal that victims of muggings have more protections under New York\u2019s criminal code than do victims of sex crimes.<\/p>\n “If they were to go to the police department and say, \u2018I was mugged,\u2019 no matter how incapacitated that person was, the police wouldn\u2019t say to that person, ‘Oh, but you were drunk.\u00a0Your mugging didn\u2019t happen,'” Asher previously said.\u00a0“For some reason, out of all the major crimes in the state, rape is the only one that is treated differently, so the level of intoxication somehow eliminates the fact that a crime existed.”<\/p>\n On Thursday morning, Asher and other activists and legislators held a press conference in The Bronx asking for the gap in this law to be closed.<\/p>\n On Friday, Hochul also said she supports a change in the law to get rid of the loophole.<\/p>\n Handling of initial case raises questions<\/p>\n Hochul said Friday that the woman who accused members of a Cornell University fraternity<\/a> of gang rape was \u201cfailed\u201d by people obligated to protect her, including police and the county prosecutor.<\/p>\n