As continued “I Am Jane Doe” protests occur across the United States in relation to a former Cornell University student who alleges seven men sexually assaulted her at an on-campus frat house, one of the individuals named in the case wants New York Attorney General Letitia James off the case.
The attorney for Gillio Lopes, who has denied that he sexually assaulted the woman in October 2024, filed a petition in Albany Supreme Court earlier this week. James, according to the lawyer’s Article 78 petition, should not be the special prosecutor in the case because, in his eyes, James has “unequivocally demonstrated a bias and presumption of guilt against the defendants named in the Civil Case.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is also named in the petition, which is a proceeding used to challenge an action by a state or local government officer or agencies in New York.
James was appointed to independently investigate the women’s allegations in the lawsuit that has swelled to become a nationwide story and further conversations regarding consent. Jane Doe alleges that she was piled with alcohol, sexually assaulted and gang-raped at the Chi Phi fraternity house. The fraternity has been suspended from campus and remains barred.
It is up to James to determine whether charges should be filed against the seven men in Jane Doe’s suit.
“Since then, OAG has spoken with the Tompkins County District Attorney, Jane Doe’s attorney, and several candidates for outside counsel to support the investigation,” a spokesperson for the New York Attorney General’s Office said in a statement. “The DA has agreed to cooperate, and OAG remains committed to a thorough and independent investigation guided only by the facts and the law.”
James, who was appointed by Hochul on October 1, has spoken about the case on social media in recent weeks. On September 28, she made a post on X, linking to a New York Times article regarding the investigation into the alleged sexual assault. “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,” she wrote.
Lopes’ lawyers argue in the Article 78 petition that the tweet is enough to consider her removal from the case.
“Through this official public statement, Attorney General James has made clear that she has formed an opinion about the case, that she believes the allegations made by Jane Doe, and that she has already reached the conclusion that Petitioner and the other named Defendants are guilty,” the petition states.
Lopes is accused of kissing Jane Doe and sexually assaulting her without her consent.
In a statement on Sept. 28, Cornell revealed it conducted a “thorough, monthslong Title IX investigation in 2024 that handed down a range of sanctions, which included expulsions and suspensions” from the Ivy League university. In sum, two members of Chi Phi were expelled and two others were suspended. A third, who had already graduated from the school, was barred from campus and the other two were issued no-contact orders and were required to write “reflection papers,” according to a source who has viewed the written decision of the investigation.
