BREAKING: DA reopens case against Cornell fraternity accused of rape, alleges office never independently investigated Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said he intends to present the case to a grand jury with Jane Doe's cooperation. He said he wants to reexamine whether evidence exists now that his office didn't know about in November 2024. Last week, his office said it had done a thorough review of the police investigation. This week, Van Houten said his office relied on Cornell University Police and did not independently investigate. He said that's standard practice in many upstate counties. The group chat is now the central dispute. Van Houten said the Snapchat messages cited in the complaint were never provided to his office. Doe's attorney, Thomas Giuffra, said they were handed to authorities in 2024. If both are true, the evidence stopped with campus police. Van Houten said her 2024 statement did not say she was drugged without her knowledge, forced, or incapacitated. He said the civil complaint is "dramatically different." Giuffra disputes that account of her statement and said no specially trained detective or prosecutor ever contacted her. Two defendants have now spoken. Scott Norris said he sent a message that appears in the complaint and briefly stopped in the room, but said he took part in no sexual activity or drug use. He said Cornell did not find him responsible on those accusations, "for which others received serious consequences." Scott Kretzschmar's attorney said his client never touched the plaintiff and the incident "did not happen." Cornell has cited federal privacy law to avoid discussing discipline. Norris's statement is the first confirmation from inside the case that outcomes differed among the seven.