While an alleged sexual assault at Cornell University has ignited intense public debate, this much is beyond meaningful dispute: Tompkins County district attorney Matthew Van Houten had to go. And although New York governor Kathy Hochul was right to seek a replacement prosecutor, she has made a grievous mistake with the appointment of Attorney General Letitia James.

Van Houten thoroughly botched the initial investigation of an allegation by a Cornell student, Jane Doe, that she was raped by seven men in a fraternity house in October 2024. As Van Houten has acknowledged, he based his initial non-prosecution decision on one document: a six-page summary of a statement Jane Doe gave to the Cornell University Police Department in November 2024.

That’s it — that’s everything Van Houten considered. He did not obtain the transcript of Jane Doe’s statement, which differs in notable respects from the summary. The DA never sought to interview Jane Doe. He did not speak with any of the accused men or other witnesses. He made no effort to obtain texts, Snapchat messages, emails, or surveillance videos. Van Houten simply read the six-page summary document and decreed that the case was closed.

Two years later, after Jane Doe filed a civil suit and the allegations exploded into the national consciousness, Van Houten announced last week that he would reopen the Cornell case. But he also stood by his original assessment that Jane Doe’s allegations did not raise a chargeable crime.

If Van Houten had remained on the Cornell case, nobody would have been satisfied in the end. Had he decided yet again not to prosecute, critics would charge that he predetermined the outcome and........

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