{"id":227236,"date":"2026-10-11T19:06:41","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T19:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/second-defendant-in-cornell-fraternity-case-seeks-new-york-ags-recusal-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T19:06:41","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T19:06:41","slug":"second-defendant-in-cornell-fraternity-case-seeks-new-york-ags-recusal-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/second-defendant-in-cornell-fraternity-case-seeks-new-york-ags-recusal-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Second defendant in Cornell fraternity case seeks New York AG\u2019s recusal – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Attorneys representing Winston Lee, one of the former fraternity members accused in the Cornell University sexual assault lawsuit<\/a>, filed a motion Friday in criminal court seeking to disqualify New York Attorney General Letitia James<\/a> from any future grand jury proceedings.
The motion \u2014 filed by attorneys Teny Geragos, Marc Agnifilo and Jacob Kaplan \u2014 asked a judge to preclude James from conducting a criminal investigation into whether former Chi Phi members, including Lee, engaged in sexual assault in October 2024.
Lee\u2019s attorneys argued that the Tompkins County court has the authority<\/a> to step in if necessary to ensure the fairness of a grand jury process. They are asking for any future potential grand jury panelists to be polled on whether they are aware of James\u2019 comments. They also asked for the court to schedule arguments on the issue.
In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for James\u2019 office said: \u201cIn this and every investigation, the Office of the Attorney General is committed to conducting a comprehensive review of nothing but the facts, the evidence, and the law.\u201d
The filing follows a separate legal effort by lawyers for Cornell defendant Gillio Lopes<\/a>, who earlier this week filed a civil court motion asking a judge for the same relief: the dismissal of James following her appointment as special counsel by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Jane Doe\u2019s civil suit was filed last month against seven fraternity members as well as Cornell, the Chi Phi fraternity<\/a> and her sorority. The lawsuit alleges that both Lee and Lopes did drugs off her body and sexually assaulted her. Lee\u2019s and Lopes\u2019 attorneys say their clients deny the accusations brought against them.
Two of the other men named in the suit have also denied separate allegations against them. None of the men named has been criminally charged. Cornell has said that it welcomes new investigations into the case. The fraternity and sorority previously declined to discuss the pending litigation.
It also marks the first time the well-known legal team, which has handled a number of significant sexual misconduct matters, publicly acknowledged representing one of the men accused by a former Cornell student who filed a lawsuit last month under the pseudonym Jane Doe.
Hochul and James \u201chave together created a blatant appearance of impropriety that, combined with the AG\u2019s ethical violations, should lead to the AG\u2019s recusal,\u201d Geragos wrote in a motion filed in criminal court in Tompkins County, the upstate New York area where Cornell is located.
Geragos pointed to social media comments posted by James as Jane Doe\u2019s lawsuit captured national attention.
\u201cWhat this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable,\u201d James wrote prior to her appointment as special prosecutor. \u201cTo her and all other survivors: You\u2019re not alone. We stand with you.\u201d
Lawyers for Lee and Lopes argue the remarks show that James prejudged the case and is unfit to conduct an impartial review of the matter. An Oct. 29 hearing has been set in Lopes\u2019 case for James\u2019 office to argue that her appointment should not be voided.
\u201cThe public needs confidence that the person directing this investigation will evaluate the evidence with an open mind,\u201d Lopes\u2019 attorney, Andrew Miltenberg, said in a statement on Friday.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten vowed to present evidence to a grand jury prior to James\u2019 office taking on the probe.
Van Houten previously found that Jane Doe had not described a prosecutable crime in a six-page statement provided to police in November 2024 and ruled out the possibility of charges. Jane Doe told police that she engaged in a consensual threesome on the evening in question, but that events spiraled as she became increasingly incapacitated and more men became involved.
Thomas Giuffra, an attorney for Jane Doe, has previously said that sex assault victims sometimes do not immediately recognize the coercive nature of an encounter because they rationalize aspects of a traumatic event.
Geragos\u2019 law firm, Agnifilo Intrater LLP, previously represented hip-hop mogul Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs and Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in high-profile criminal trials.
Combs, 56, was acquitted in July 2025<\/a> on one count of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion. The jury found him guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. The rapper and record producer was sentenced to 50 months<\/a> in federal prison<\/a>.
The jury in Weinstein\u2019s third trial failed to reach a unanimous verdict on a third-degree rape charge involving Jessica Mann, a former aspiring actor. The judge declared a mistrial<\/a> in May.
In a separate trial last year, the former Miramax chief was convicted<\/a> on a count of first-degree criminal sexual act involving Miriam \u201cMimi\u201d Haley, a former \u201cProject Runway\u201d production assistant. He was recently sentenced to 15 years<\/a> in prison.
Marc Agnifilo and his wife, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, represent <\/strong>Luigi Mangione, the 28-year-old accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione in August pleaded not guilty<\/a> to federal stalking charges, kicking off a double jeopardy fight<\/a> in New York state court, where he still faces murder charges.
Shayna Jacobs is a national reporter for NBC News digital.
Daniel Arkin is a senior reporter at NBC News.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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For YouSettings news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeAttorneys representing Winston Lee, one of the former fraternity members accused in the Cornell University sexual assault lawsuit, filed a motion Friday in criminal court seeking to disqualify New York Attorney General Letitia James from any future grand jury proceedings.The motion \u2014 filed by attorneys […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":227237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-227236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}