EXPLAINER-What we know about the Cornell University rape investigation

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed the state's attorney ​general to take over an investigation into an alleged 2024 gang rape of a Cornell University student, after the woman ​filed a civil lawsuit last month saying several members of a campus fraternity drugged and assaulted ‌her. The ​case has prompted public backlash over why law enforcement declined to pursue charges in 2024 after the woman, then 20, reported the incident to police. In naming Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor, Hochul said she was "deeply disturbed" by how Cornell police and the local district attorney handled the case.

Here is what we know: WHAT DOES THE WOMAN SAY HAPPENED?

The alleged victim, who uses the ‌pseudonym Jane Doe in court papers, filed a lawsuit in New York in mid-September that named as defendants seven fraternity members, the Chi Phi fraternity, Cornell, a local bar and her own sorority. According to the lawsuit, she went to meet a friend at the Chi Phi fraternity house on October 19, 2024, after drinking earlier in the evening. The friend, a member of the fraternity, and other members plied her with alcohol, marijuana and ketamine, an anesthetic that can cause hallucinogenic effects, and sexually assaulted her after she became incapacitated, the lawsuit alleges.

The complaint includes a screenshot ‌of a group text chain among several fraternity members in which one man crudely encouraged others to join in the sexual activity. WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT THE INITIAL INVESTIGATION?

In recent days, several new reports have revealed more about what law enforcement knew ‌in 2024. CBS New York obtained a copy of the transcript of Jane Doe's interview with police, in which the woman told investigators unequivocally that she had been sexually assaulted.

"I can say with 100% confidence I was raped," she told police in mid-November, several weeks after the incident. That assertion, however, was not included in a shorter sworn statement that was provided to the office of Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, the lead local prosecutor.

The New York Times obtained more than 1,000 pages of material from Cornell's internal investigation into the incident. The documents show that the woman's understanding of the event shifted over time, the newspaper reported; she told police it ⁠took some time ​for her to fully realize that she had been gang-raped. WHAT HAVE PROSECUTORS SAID?

Van ⁠Houten has defended his office's decision not to pursue criminal charges in 2024. The woman's sworn statement, he said in a statement, "described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual." The decision was driven at least in part by New York's narrowly tailored sexual assault law, which can make it ⁠harder to bring rape charges in cases in which the victim willingly consumed alcohol or drugs. Several New York lawmakers this week renewed a years-long push to rewrite state statutes to eliminate that distinction, arguing that it creates a potential loophole for rapists to avoid prosecution.

Jane Doe's lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, has criticized prosecutors for ​not investigating further at the time, including speaking with his client directly. Van Houten, acknowledging the growing public outcry, said on September 28 that his office had reopened the case and would present evidence, including testimony from the woman, to a ⁠grand jury for possible indictment.

WHAT HAS THE GOVERNOR DONE? Hochul named James as a special prosecutor to oversee the case, which means the attorney general will effectively take over the investigation from Van Houten's office.

At a press conference explaining the move, Hochul criticized both Cornell police and Van Houten's office for failing to investigate the case more aggressively in ⁠2024. "At ​every turn, she was failed by people and institutions with an obligation to protect her," she said of the alleged victim.

In a statement, Van Houten blamed the university for failing to provide him "the full picture" and said he supported James' appointment. WHAT HAS THE UNIVERSITY SAID?

Cornell has defended its handling of the matter, saying that it launched a comprehensive investigation and barred from campus the Chi Phi chapter, which remains closed. The school imposed a range of discipline on the fraternity members, including expulsions and sanctions. The lawsuit claimed Cornell failed to adequately ⁠punish the alleged perpetrators and offered some a chance to mitigate their penalties by writing essays.

A Cornell spokesperson said the school supported James' appointment and was committed to an external review of how it addressed the case. Some students on campus have expressed anger and ⁠concern over the school's handling of the episode.

WHAT HAS THE FRATERNITY SAID? The interim ⁠executive director of the national Chi Phi fraternity, Trey Robb, said in a statement on Wednesday that the Cornell chapter expelled members understood to have been involved in the incident, as did the national fraternity.

"These actions went beyond anything the law or Cornell University required of us," Robb said. WHAT HAVE THE ACCUSED MEMBERS SAID?

The New York Times, citing the internal Cornell documents, said the men all ‌denied any wrongdoing, with some saying the sex was ‌consensual and others denying participation. But in some comments, the men did express unease or concern about the interaction, the Times reported.