FIRST ON FOX: A lawyer for a U.S. Marine with the same name as one of the former Cornell University fraternity members named in a civil lawsuit says his client’s family has been doxxed, threatened and harassed after plaintiff Jane Doe’s lawyers incorrectly used his address in place of the accused’s in court filings.
Attorney Elliot Hallak wrote to New York Judge Phaedra Perry-Bond asking for the filing with his client’s address to be stricken from the record “to alleviate the fallout” for his client and his client’s family.
Doe’s lawyers acknowledged the error and filed an amended document using the correct person’s address. However, the incorrect filing remained publicly available, which left his client’s family exposed, Hallak wrote.
“The continued inclusion…of an incorrect address…is causing great hardship to the family of an active United States Servicemember who has absolutely no connection or involvement to this matter,” Hallak wrote.
His client “has never been to Cornell University” and was stationed in North Carolina during the 2024 alleged gang rape central to Doe’s lawsuit, Hallak wrote.
However, after filings in the case listed his address for the defendant with the same name, his family was harassed and received death threats, and their phone numbers were published online, according to Hallak.
Doe’s lawsuit has sparked protests and vandalism at the school, and at least one other person with the same name as one of the defendants has also reported being harassed by strangers as a result.
CORNELL SEXUAL ASSAULT CASE REVIVES SCRUTINY OF A LITTLE-KNOWN NEW YORK LAW ON INTOXICATED VICTIMS
Doe reported allegations of sexual assault to university police on Nov. 8, 2024, telling investigators that she was attacked between 11 p.m. on Oct. 19 and 5:45 a.m. on Oct. 20 at the Chi Phi fraternity house. She also alleges she had been pressured into snorting ketamine.
The school suspended the fraternity and disciplined some of the accused students, but no criminal charges were filed.
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The lawsuit names seven former Chi Phi members, including one with the same name as Hallak’s client, as well as the fraternity and affiliated entities, Cornell University, Doe’s own sorority and a local bar where she alleges she was served drinks underage.
CORNELL PICKS FORMER DEPUTY US ATTORNEY GENERAL TO REVIEW SEX ASSAULT RESPONSE
In another new filing, Moonies Bar and Nightclub is asking for a change of venue out of New York City and into Tompkins County, where the allegations outlined in the lawsuit and many of the defendants are based.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has assigned Attorney General Letitia James to open an investigation into the case.
