Judge hears challenge to Letitia James’ Cornell role

A Sullivan County judge heard arguments Thursday on whether New York Attorney General Letitia James should be removed as special prosecutor in an investigation tied to sexual assault allegations at Cornell University, but issued no immediate ruling. Gillio Lopes, one of seven men named in a civil lawsuit, is challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul’s appointment of James. Lopes’s lawyers argue that a social media post James made before her appointment showed she had prejudged the allegations and could not oversee the investigation impartially. The post, published September 28, expressed support for Jane Doe, the woman who brought the lawsuit. James wrote that what Doe had allegedly endured was horrific and unacceptable and said that she and other survivors were not alone. Hochul appointed James special prosecutor on October 1. Lopes’s attorney Andrew Miltenberg asked Judge James R. Farrell to require Hochul to appoint a prosecutor free from actual or perceived bias. The legal challenge argues that James’s public support for Doe amounted to a presumption of guilt against the men named in the lawsuit. James’s office opposes the challenge, describing it as procedurally defective and...