The attorney representing a Connecticut native among the “Cornell 7” accused of gang raping a student at a fraternity house in 2024 is seeking a gag order in the case, citing what he describes as an orchestrated media blast carried out by Jane Doe’s lawyer.

In court documents filed in New York Supreme Court last week, attorney James C. Knox argues that Doe’s lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, has been “trying his case in the media since filing the lawsuit” — which accuses Diego Sarabia and six other former members of the Chi Phi Fraternity at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York of drugging and raping a then-20-year-old Cornell student in October 2024. Knox represents Sarabia, a Connecticut native who graduated from Bethel High School in 2021.

Since the filing of the lawsuit in September, the case has garnered intense media coverage and triggered renewed debate about fraternities and ties to rape culture.

During several appearances on CBS, CNN and NBC, Giuffra made statements that Knox contends could be prejudicial for any potential jurors in a trial. The statements Knox cited in court filings include Giuffra accusing the defendants in the lawsuit of “deleting everything” and “dumping” evidence.

Giuffra, Knox writes, has also accused officials with Cornell and law enforcement of orchestrating a “cover-up,” saying police “had evidence of a crime” and chose not to pursue charges in 2024. Giuffra also said Doe “didn’t have consent from the time she walked in the door; she was incapable of consent,” later adding that she ”felt like, you know, like a sex worker just being shuffled from place to place in a bit, unable to stop it,” court papers said.

In support of a “narrowly tailored” order regulating “extrajudicial statements” made by attorneys involved in the case, Knox accuses Giuffra of engaging in a “media blast” as part of an “orchestrated campaign from the outset,” court papers said. He argues that “interim relief” is warranted because there “appears to be no end” to Giuffra’s “ongoing media campaign.”

Court records reviewed Wednesday showed that Giuffra has not filed a response to Knox’s request. It is not clear when a judge will act on the request.

Knox and Giuffra did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The lawsuit alleges that Doe was visibly intoxicated after consuming about 10 alcoholic drinks before she arrived at the Chi Phi Fraternity on Oct. 19, 2024, for what she thought would be a one-on-one visit with her friend, Matthew Ingalls. The complaint contends that she was given ketamine and more alcohol at the frat house before she was sexually assaulted by multiple men.

Giuffra argues in the lawsuit that Doe was “incapable of consenting.”

The other former frat members named as defendants in the lawsuit include Johnathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar.

Despite Doe filing a complaint with the university’s police department weeks after the incident, no charges were pursued. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten issued a statement after the lawsuit made headlines, contending that the statement Doe gave to investigators at the time suggested her drug use and sexual acts with multiple men were consensual.

Van Houten announced he would reopen the criminal case in light of the allegations made in the lawsuit before New York Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed a special prosecutor to take over the investigation. Charges have not yet been brought.

Despite not being charged, Sarabia was banned from Cornell’s campus following the university’s initial investigation, the New York Times reported. He later moved to North Carolina, where TMZ reported he was out of a job at a Wells Fargo bank branch in Charlotte after the criminal investigation was reopened.

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