A new lead for the Cornell inquiry
James announced Wednesday that Kelly will direct the state's investigation into an alleged sexual assault at a Cornell University fraternity house in 2024, NBC News reported. Kelly is a Cornell graduate and a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan, where she helped establish a civil rights unit within the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
She is now a partner at Boies Schiller Flexner, a law firm that has represented women who accused Jeffrey Epstein of sexual abuse. James, who won re-election as attorney general on Tuesday, said in a statement that Kelly “is a seasoned prosecutor who has overseen numerous cases from investigation through trial.”
Kelly thanked James for the assignment. “All New Yorkers deserve a fair and thorough inquiry into the facts of this case,” she said in a statement.
The allegations and the earlier decision
A former Cornell student sued in September under the name Jane Doe. She accuses seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity of drugging and sexually assaulting her at the chapter house on Oct. 19 and 20, 2024, after an encounter that began as consensual. She later left the university. According to NBC News, she reported the incident to Cornell and to campus police in November 2024.
Records reviewed by NBC News show that Cornell's police department interviewed several witnesses and gathered other evidence. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten declined to file charges after his office reviewed a six-page statement from Doe. He said it did not describe a potential crime. The records show his team did not look at additional statements from Doe and from others who were interviewed.
Hochul ordered the state review on Oct. 1 after raising concerns that the local prosecutor had not properly assessed the case.
Reactions from the lawyers involved
Doe's attorney, Thomas Giuffra, told NBC News that he and his client “applaud” the appointment. He said he expects Kelly to weigh the differing roles of the people involved and to consider all appropriate charges under state Penal Law rather than a single count. He also thanked Hochul for ensuring a meaningful criminal investigation.
Lawyers for two of the accused men have asked separate state judges to bar James from leading the matter, arguing that her earlier social media posts backing Doe show prejudgment and bias. Those requests have not been decided. James has said her investigation will be fair and fact-based and that her posts, written before she was assigned the case, reflected empathy for the accuser.
Andrew Miltenberg, who represents Gillio Lopes, said he has no objection to Kelly leading the investigative team. He argued, however, that changing the manager does not resolve the concern if James can still direct or override key prosecutorial decisions. Jeremy Saland, who represents Scott Kretzschmar, called the appointment “a step in the right direction” but said he was surprised James passed over many current and former state prosecutors experienced in sex crimes. He maintained that his client is innocent.
Kelly's record and a Combs connection
When James was first appointed, her office said she was expected to bring in an outside lawyer to assist staff attorneys. Kelly is now expected to bring a team from her firm, which she joined as a partner last year. Her firm biography says she focuses on high-profile regulatory or criminal investigations and on victims of sexual assault and other crimes.
Her earlier cases include a New York indictment of fashion executive Peter Nygard, who was sentenced in Canada in 2024 to 11 years in prison for sexual assaults, and a case against Ricardo Cruciani, a pain management doctor accused of abusing patients in several states.
In 2025, she oversaw the prosecution of Combs, which ended in a conviction for transportation to engage in prostitution and acquittals on sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges. Combs is serving a 50-month federal sentence. Winston Lee, one of the men named in Doe's suit, is represented by Teny Geragos, who defended Combs at trial. Geragos declined to comment on Kelly's appointment.
