Cornell rape investigation will probably be led by a former prosecutor within the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs case – Boston Information, Climate, Sports activities

NEW YORK (AP) — A reopened prison investigation into gang rape allegations at Cornell College will probably be led by a former Manhattan federal prosecutor who oversaw high-profile intercourse crimes circumstances in opposition to music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and trend govt Peter Nygård, New York Legal professional Normal Letitia James introduced on Wednesday.

Jacqueline Kelly, a Cornell alumna and companion on the regulation agency Boies Schiller Flexner, will function outdoors counsel for James’ investigation, which was spurred by a former scholar’s allegations in a September lawsuit that a number of males raped her at a fraternity social gathering in October 2024.

Kelly and a workforce of legal professionals and investigators from her agency and the legal professional basic’s workplace will probably be answerable for gathering proof, interviewing witnesses, reviewing investigative information and reviews, and analyzing the details and relevant regulation, James mentioned.

They’ll report back to James, who was appointed final month by Gov. Kathy Hochul as a particular prosecutor overseeing the Cornell probe. James, a Democrat, made the announcement a day after profitable election to a 3rd time period.

Individually, two males named as defendants within the former scholar’s lawsuit need the legal professional basic faraway from the investigation. They argue James is biased due to a social media publish she made earlier than her appointment that expressed help for the accuser. A choose has but to rule.

“Jacqueline Kelly is a seasoned prosecutor who has overseen quite a few circumstances from investigation via trial,” James mentioned in a press release. “Along with her prison authorized experience, dedication to public service, and judicial expertise, I’m assured that she is going to lead a good and complete investigation.”

Kelly, a Columbia Regulation College graduate, was a prosecutor within the Manhattan U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for practically a decade and led the civil rights unit within the workplace’s prison division. She oversaw investigations and prosecutions of civil rights offenses, voting rights violations, intercourse crimes and hate crimes.

She left final yr to hitch Boies Schiller Flexner and can stay on the agency whereas she conducts the Cornell investigation.

“All New Yorkers deserve a good and thorough inquiry into the details of this case,” Kelly mentioned. “I stay up for lending my years of expertise as a federal prosecutor to the Workplace of the Legal professional Normal as we look at all out there proof.”

Hochul appointed James as particular prosecutor on Oct. 1, saying she had misplaced religion within the native prosecutor, Tompkins County District Legal professional Matthew Van Houten, who declined to carry costs in 2024.

Van Houten mentioned he would restart the investigation following the previous scholar’s lawsuit, however a lawyer for the accuser mentioned the district legal professional was getting ready to carry the matter to a grand jury inside two weeks.

James has mentioned her investigation will take months.

The previous Cornell scholar, recognized in court docket papers as Jane Doe, alleged in her lawsuit that among the males pressured her into utilizing ketamine and marijuana and that she drank alcohol that left her too intoxicated to consent. Just a few weeks later, she mentioned, she made reviews to campus police and the college’s Title IX workplace.

The case roiled the Ivy League establishment, elevating questions on how universities, police departments and native prosecutors reply to campus sexual assaults.

Final month, Cornell employed former U.S. Deputy Legal professional Normal Sally Yates to evaluation how the college investigates sexual assault and sexual harassment, how the disciplinary course of works, the campus police response and extra.

As a federal prosecutor, Kelly supervised the prosecutions of former Manhattan neurologist Ricardo Cruciani, who killed himself in jail whereas awaiting trial on federal costs after his conviction in state court docket for molesting sufferers, in addition to Bronx music instructor Jesus Concepcion, who was sentenced in 2024 to 30 years in jail for sexually abusing 5 college students. She additionally took on the mafia, prosecuting a dozen members of the Lucchese crime household.

At Boies Schiller Flexner, she focuses on regulatory and prison investigations and represents victims of sexual assault and different crimes. The agency, co-founded by lawyer David Boies, is thought for representing victims of the late Jeffrey Epstein, in addition to company purchasers together with Amazon and the defunct well being expertise firm Theranos.

James, whose workplace is geared towards civil litigation and shopper safety, has turned to outdoors counsel prior to now to help in investigations.

In 2021, she appointed two outdoors legal professionals, former Manhattan U.S. Legal professional Joon Kim and employment lawyer Anne Clark, to conduct a non-criminal investigation into sexual harassment allegations in opposition to then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, resulting in his resignation. Cuomo denied the findings of their report.