Chaminade High School graduate Orazio Petito dropped from Cornell Jane Doe fraternity lawsuit

A Chaminade High School graduate has been dropped from a civil lawsuit alleging the Cornell University fraternity he once may have headed bears at least some responsibility for an alleged gang rape two years ago at the university's frat house.

A notice of discontinuance was filed Tuesday removing Orazio Petito, of Glen Cove, from the litigation. Lawyers for Petito and the accuser both signed the notice.

The case, filed last month, set off a political firestorm about the definition of rape, how universities handle accusations, what constitutes consent and the prosecutorial objectivity of the state's top legal officer.

Still remaining as defendants are the fraternity, Chi Phi; seven men who the lawsuit alleges took part that night; and others, including Cornell.

Petito, a 2023 graduate of Chaminade, an all-boys Catholic school in Mineola, was never accused of being involved in the alleged rape but of having failed to adequately supervise the fraternity.

Earlier this month, his lawyer, Eric Bernstein, of Manhattan, told Newsday that Petito was not, as the suit had alleged, fraternity president at the time of the alleged incident, but declined to elaborate.

On Tuesday, Bernstein said the case was dismissed against Petito because he was not fraternity president at the time.

"We're pleased with the dismissal of the case against my client, and justice was served," Bernstein said.

He declined to say when or whether Petito had been the fraternity's president.

The accuser, who filed under the legal pseudonym Jane Doe, alleges that two years ago, she was raped at the frat house after taking alcohol and drugs with the frat members, and that she was not in a condition to consent to sexual activity. She also cites crude, degrading and explicit texts circulated about her in a fraternity group chat, such as that there was "free" sex available from her and asking: "Shop still open?"

Lawyers for the accused men have denied wrongdoing. There was sex, the lawyers have acknowledged, but it was consensual. There also were her alleged texts over the hours and days afterward, including one message that stated "non[e] of the sexual stuff was illegal and honestly I really liked being" with two of the men.

The men also said the accuser's story shifted between 2024 and the filing of the lawsuit.

After reviewing each side's account, the Tompkins County district attorney, Matthew Van Houten, declined in 2024 to prosecute the men, concluding that there was insufficient evidence of criminality. But amid the political firestorm last month, Van Houten reopened the investigation, which Gov. Kathy Hochul took away and gave to the state attorney general, Letitia James.

James, the state's top legal officer, has rejected accusations questioning her impartiality by those who cite a social media post she made favorable to Doe's accusations. James — who, even before being appointed to the case, called Doe a survivor and posted that what the accuser "has been forced to endure" is "horrific and unacceptable" — said she was being empathetic.

In Albany, lawmakers are considering changing state law to make it easier to prosecute accusations like Doe's.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.