Second defendant in Cornell fraternity case seeks New York AG’s recusal

Attorneys 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 — filed by attorneys Teny Geragos, Marc Agnifilo and Jacob Kaplan — asked a judge to preclude James from conducting a criminal investigation into whether former Chi Phi brothers, including Lee, engaged in sexual assault in October 2024.

Lee’s attorneys argued that the Tompkins County court has the authority 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’ comments. They also asked for the court to schedule arguments on the issue.

In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for James’ office said: “In 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.”

The filing follows a separate legal effort by lawyers for Cornell defendant Gillio Lopes, 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’s civil suit was filed last month against seven fraternity brothers as well as Cornell, the Chi Phi fraternity and her sorority. The lawsuit alleges that both Lee and Lopes did drugs off of her body and sexually assaulted her. Lee and Lopes’ attorneys say their clients deny the accusations brought against them.

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Two of the other men named in the suit have also denied separate allegations against them. None of the men named have 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 “have together created a blatant appearance of impropriety that, combined with the AG’s ethical violations, should lead to the AG’s recusal,” 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’s lawsuit captured national attention.

“What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable,” James wrote prior to her appointment as special prosecutor. “To her and all other survivors: You’re not alone. We stand with you.”

Lawyers for Lee and Lopes argue the remarks show that James pre-judged the case and is unfit to conduct an impartial review of the matter. An Oct. 29 hearing has been set in Lopes’ case for James’ office to argue that her appointment should not be voided.

“The public needs confidence that the person directing this investigation will evaluate the evidence with an open mind,” Lopes’s 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’s 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’ law firm, Agnifilo Intrater LLP, previously represented hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in high-profile criminal trials.

Combs, 56, was acquitted in July 2025 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 in federal prison.

The jury in Weinstein’s 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 in May.

In a separate trial last year, the former Miramax chief was convicted on a count of first-degree criminal sexual act involving Miriam “Mimi” Haley, a former “Project Runway” production assistant. He was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Marc Agnifilo and his wife, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, represent Luigi Mangione, the 28-year-old accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione in August pleaded not guilty to federal stalking charges, kicking off a double jeopardy fight in New York state court, where he still faces murder charges.