The excerpts below are from the following sources

https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/cornell-university-rape-allegation-chi-phi-snapchat-conversation/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/29/cornell-texts-rape-investigation

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-cornell-university-gang-rape-lawsuit/

https://people.com/cornell-student-says-frat-group-chat-critical-evidence-da-did-not-see-until-recently-12146190

The woman, identified only by a pseudonym in the lawsuit, filed the complaint Sept. 16, saying she was sexually assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house on the Ivy League campus in October 2024 after being pressured into snorting ketamine, smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. She became completely incapacitated while frat members were sexually assaulting her, the lawsuit alleges.

Two of the alleged perpetrators were subsequently expelled after an internal investigation by Cornell – while the other five were allowed to resume their studies at the Ivy League institution after writing an essay, attending a workshop, or serving a short suspension.

None were ever arrested or charged, and outrage over the treatment of the alleged offenders grew when the woman’s lawsuit was made public.

CBS, meanwhile, also claimed to have a video of Snapchat messages exchanged on the night of the alleged assault by numerous members of a group called Chi Phi Actives. One of the messages, sent while the woman was in the since-closed fraternity house, allegedly stated there was “free pussy upstairs”.

According to CBS, a later message sent by a group member asked: “Shop still open?” The response was, “Yea”.

Attorney Thomas Giuffra, who represents the woman, confirmed to CBS that his client – named Jane Doe in court documents – exchanged text messages with one defendant after the alleged assault. But Giuffra said he could not be certain the screenshots that CBS News saw were authentic.

The woman’s lawyer says Cornell University Police had the fraternity messages in 2024, but prosecutors say they didn’t see them until she filed a lawsuit recently

Over the weekend, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned what she called a “culture of rape” that is protected at elite institutions.

“When I read what happened at Cornell, those men posted in a group chat. That means it was normal to them. That means it was acceptable to them. This is a culture,” she said Sunday at a forum packed with young people near Cornell’s campus.

“And what we must do is understand that we cannot protect those spaces any more.”

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[–] 3 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Totally depends on what a trial judge decides

I don't know how I feel about this. There should be some rules that decide what is admissible 😳

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  • [–] 1 point 1 day ago (1 child)

    There are rules that decide what is admissable. Just because you don't know what they are doesn't mean they don't exist.

    You're not going to learn law from Lemmy comments.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 day ago

    Just because you don't know what they are doesn't mean they don't exist.

    Alright, man. Nobody really said they don't exist. But that's great to know.

    You're not going to learn law from Lemmy comments.

    To your surprise, perhaps, I actually learned some things regarding this from these very Lemmy comments. 🙂 Not from your comment, but from others who explained things.

    Thank you for your comment though. Take care, friend!

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  • [–] 4 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    Oh I'm sure there's tons of rules, but it still always comes down to how a judge interprets them

    Like, to grab an example from the federal rules of evidence, https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/rule_403

    The court may exclude relevant evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by a danger of one or more of the following: unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, wasting time, or needlessly presenting cumulative evidence.

    What does "unfair prejudice" mean? There's literally thousands of cases of judges deciding "this is unfair" and "that is not" to guide you, but ultimately every single court case is a new set of facts that requires a new set of judgment calls, which is what we have judges for.

    (Unrelated silly question that just occured to me - was including undue delay, wasting time, and needlessly cumulative evidence all really necessary or did they just decide an example of what they were complaining about was necessary?)

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  • [–] 3 points 1 day ago

    undue delay, wasting time,

    Interesting that you mention this. There's rules in badminton where you cannot cause "undue delay" in certain situations as well. And what that means isn't exactly defined. 😅 So, also up to the referee, or players in lieu of a referee.

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