One of the Cornell students who was named in a civil lawsuit by a former undergraduate student known as Jane Doe, has asked a judge to drop him from the suit.
The lawsuit claimed that during an alleged 2024 gang rape, Diego Sarabia approached Jane Doe, “grabbed her face and started kissing her, all without her consent,” before she pushed him away.
Doe’s lawsuit also alleged Sarabia was among the Chi Phi fraternity brothers who allegedly snorted ketamine off her body.
In a motion Friday to dismiss Jane Doe’s complaint, James Knox, Sarabia’s attorney, wrote that Doe did not allege in her suit that Sarabia “supplied her with drugs or alcohol, participated in any of the alleged sexual encounters described elsewhere in the complaint, or was even present for most of the conduct that forms the basis of plaintiff’s broader allegations.”
All seven frat brothers have denied wrongdoing and Sarabia argued he was not part of the most severe conduct alleged in the lawsuit.
“As far as defendant goes, this is essentially a lawsuit about an allegedly forced kiss,” Knox wrote in a Friday motion to dismiss Jane Doe’s complaint.
The lawyer argued it is now too late for Jane Doe to bring a claim against Sarabia.
“Any intentional tort arising out of that alleged conduct is foreclosed by a strict one-year statute of limitations because plaintiff commenced this action nearly two years after the alleged events,” Knox wrote.
Doe’s attorney has not yet filed a response to the motion.
The motion came a week after a New York judge rejected a request by Sarabia’s attorney to impose a gag order.
Knox argued that a gag order would limit “possible juror prejudice” and prevent the potential release of sensitive information that could lead to ” threats, doxing, intimidation, and extrajudicial contact.”
Judge Phaedra Perry-Bond called the request a “side show” that’s “meant to muddy the waters and distract from the merits of the claims and defenses involved in this case.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who was appointed special prosecutor by Gov. Kathy Hochul, is conducting an investigation into the incident. Cornell, which said it fully supports the appointment of a special prosecutor, is also conducting an internal probe of its response to the allegations.
Cornell has said it takes allegations of allegations of sexual violence “extremely seriously” and that it “investigated and adjudicated the allegations consistent with university policies.”
At the same time, the university has said it is committed to taking additional steps to improve campus safety.
The case has rocked the university and started conversations about treatment of sexual assault allegations on college campuses across the country.
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