The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct (SCJC) voted Tuesday to censure State Supreme Court Justice Mark J. Grisanti after an altercation with police officials in 2020, bodycam footage shows.
Grisanti, 59, was served with a formal written complaint by officials on August 30, 2021, containing three charges, which included his most recent altercation where he and his wife, Maria, engaged in “a public, profanity-laced and physical confrontation with two of his neighbors” and a Buffalo police officer, the court documents read.
Although SCJC Administrator Robert Tembeckjian recommended the state supreme court judge be removed from the bench due to his actions, only four members supported Grisanti’s removal while six suggested a lighter punishment. (RELATED: Dramatic Bodycam Video Shows K9, Police Arrest Man Allegedly Behind Murders Of Girl, Mother)
“I hope Judge Grisanti appreciates how close he came to being removed, and that his future conduct will exemplify the integrity and dignity required of his high office,” Tembeckjian stated following the decision, according to the New York Post.
The NYS Commission on judicial conduct determined that Mark J. Grisanti, a Judge of the Court of Claims and an Acting Justice of the Supreme Court, Erie County, should be censured for an incident involving police in 2020 https://t.co/KMy0PmBJb6
— WNYmedia Network (@wnymedia) April 30, 2024
In June 2022 an altercation between the Grisanti’s and his neighbors, Joseph, 69, and Gina Mele, 57, broke out after the judge reportedly found “two vehicles that did not belong to him parked on opposite sides of his driveway, both of which he believed belonged to the Meles,” SCJC documents stated. Grisanti called 911 to request the cars either be removed or ticketed.
Following the arrival of Buffalo Police Department officials, tensions heightened between the two neighbors and a physical altercation broke out in the driveway. While attempting to break up the fight, bodycam footage obtained by WKBW shows Grisanti shoving an officer as authorities were attempting to calm his wife down.
“Ma’am, if you don’t stop yelling, this is gonna be a problem for you,” an officer tells Maria in the video.
“I don’t care,” Maria pushed back.
As the officer crosses the street to handcuff Maria, Grisanti shouts at the officer and approaches him from the back to shove him.
“Keep your hands off of a cop,” an officer responds.
“You better get off my fucking wife,” Grisanti stated. “My daughter and my son are both Buffalo police officers … I’ll call them right now.”
Grisanti goes on to make claims about his connections not only to the Buffalo Police Department but also with Mayor Byron W. Brown, appearing to attempt to ease his punishment, WKBW reported.
After a police investigation into the altercation Buffalo Police spokesman Capt. Jeff Rinaldo stated charges would not be pursued against the judge as he “didn’t tackle anyone. He didn’t punch him. He gave him like a shoulder shove,” according to WKBW. Rinaldo added that it had been the officer’s choice to not press charges against Grisanti.
In addition to his 2020 altercation, the SCJC also charged him for allegedly having an “ongoing financial relationship” with an attorney whose cases he oversaw a handful of times. Grisanti’s third charge was for allegedly failing to “make timely and accurate reports of his extra-judicial income to the clerks of the Court of Claims and Erie County Supreme Court” between 2015 and 2019.
“Although we consider respondent’s misconduct on June 22, 2020 to be very serious and he displayed especially poor judgment that day, we do not find that removal from judicial office is warranted for this single incident particularly since it occurred in the context of a long-standing dispute between the entire neighborhood and the Meles, and involved a legitimate concern by respondent for the physical well-being of his wife as she was being taken to the ground by a police officer,” the SCJC documents report.