🇺🇸 2 years after the alleged gang rape at Cornell's Chi Phi house, the case may end up turning less on anyone's memory and more on what was written down at the time. Jane Doe says 7 fraternity members assaulted her in October 2024 while she was too drunk and drugged to consent. The men deny it, no criminal charges have been filed, and the state attorney general has now taken over the investigation. Both sides are leaning on the records. A recorded phone call, an alleged group chat message inviting others to join in, and an apology text from one of the accused support her account. Her friendly texts after that night, a 2024 sworn statement the DA says described the encounter as consensual, which her lawyer disputes, and the Moonies bar insisting its wristband system meant she was never served there all cut the other way. An Australian study of 108 rape trials found text messages are now routine evidence, often used to argue that an account changed over time, which is why the context around every screenshot matters as much as the screenshot itself. Alcohol runs through every account of that night. One of the accused later texted Doe that he and another man had been too intoxicated to shut things down before they got out of hand. New York criminal law, which governs this case, doesn't treat voluntary drunkenness as automatic incapacity, while Cornell's own affirmative-consent policy sets a much lower bar. Whichever standard applies has to work the same way for every person in that room. California's campus consent law, for comparison, says an accused student's own intoxication is no excuse. Meanwhile, the public verdict is running ahead of the record. Huge crowds marched at Cornell this week demanding expulsions and degree revocations for all 7, and the main administration building was vandalized. The outcry helped put a closed case back on the table, but it can't decide it. What happened in that room will eventually be decided by evidence, and evidence doesn't trend. Sources: AP, BBC, NYT, NPR, CBS, TMZ, SAGE / Writer: Julie