Appearance co-host Sunny Hostin He’s defending a district attorney for failing to file charges against several Cornell University fraternity members accused of gang-raping a fellow student in 2024.
“I have a statement that Jane Doe wrote at that time. It’s several pages long,” Hostin, 57, said in a statement on Tuesday, September 29. episode of ABC’s hit daytime talk show. “Under current New York state law, voluntary intoxication or drug use – he voluntarily drank heavily and voluntarily snorted ketamine from one of the boy’s body parts – allowed other boys to snort ketamine from his body and allowed other boys to snort ketamine from his body.”
“Under New York law, voluntary intoxication or drug use that merely impairs judgment does not constitute a lawful failure to consent to sexual activity,” the former federal prosecutor continued.
Hostin said the Tompkins County District Attorney understands why. Matthew Van Houten A group of brothers did not press charges against the brother after the alleged attack in 2024.
“If you voluntarily use drugs, if you voluntarily drink alcohol, you can agree to have a threesome, and in his statement he agreed to have two separate threesomes,” Hostin said. “A young man came in and said, ‘Everybody out.’ So there was one person who did this. According to his testimony, three of the young men did not touch him.”
Following his polarizing approach, Hostin made it clear that Jane Doe’s new case must be investigated and taken seriously.
He also gave advice to the audience. AppearanceUse the Hot Topics section to research more than just headlines before jumping to conclusions.
“I say all this to say that pictures of these young men who were not charged, who were not prosecuted, were spread all over the internet,” he said. “I think people are misrepresenting this story. I think they’re conveying it unfairly.”
Hostin continued: “While this is something we have to take very seriously, there is no way any prosecutor could file a lawsuit based on his testimony in 2024.”
Jane Doe, a former student at the Ivy League school, filed a lawsuit against Cornell and seven fraternity members, claiming she was drugged and sexually assaulted for at least seven hours at the Chi Phi fraternity house in Ithaca, New York, in October 2024.
No arrests have been made in the case, and the local district attorney said he reopened the case in light of leaked messages from a Snapchat group message advertising “free p****,” a derogatory term for female genitalia, at the time of the alleged assault.
Lawyers representing the named fraternity members vehemently denied the allegations in the lawsuit.
“Jane Doe’s November 2024 affidavit did not allege that she was drugged or gang raped against her will. On the contrary, Jane Doe’s affidavit described her participation in drug use and sexual intercourse as voluntary, conscious, and consensual,” Van Houten said. expression. “My office did not and could not base our November 2024 decision on allegations in a civil lawsuit that would not be filed until almost two years later. Additionally, Jane Doe’s attorneys never contacted me.”
Jane Doe’s attorney disputed Van Houten’s account of the alleged victim’s initial statement and blamed authorities for never pursuing his client.
The District Attorney, who initially oversaw the investigation into allegations that a former Cornell University student was gang-raped by seven members of a fraternity in 2024, is admitting that his office did not conduct the first independent investigation into the case. Instead, the prosecutor relied solely on campus police. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van […]
“In my experience, talking to a survivor of abuse requires tact, understanding and specialized training,” the lawyer said. Thomas P. Giuffra said ABC News. “The average University Police officer does not have these skills. This would be the role of a specially trained detective or district attorney. However, no one with these skills contacted Ms. Doe.”
Cornell University said in a statement that it takes allegations of sexual violence “extremely seriously” and that its Office of Civil Rights and Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards “investigate and resolve allegations consistent with university policies.”
“Any assertion that the university did not impose consequential penalties on those involved is false,” Cornell said in a statement via ABC News in September. “Continuing the false narrative of minimal consequences in this case is irresponsible, will leave survivors feeling less safe and supported, and will perpetuate the underreporting of sexual assault.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).