A Buffalo-area judge who brawled with his neighbors and shoved a police officer will be censured but will remain on the bench, a state commission ruled on Tuesday, drawing one of the stranger sagas in New York State judicial history to a close.
The decision comes nearly four years after Erie County prosecutors declined to charge Mark J. Grisanti, a former state senator and acting State Supreme Court judge, in the June 2020 episode.
The gentle treatment of Justice Grisanti, who is white, created controversy amid a national reckoning over race and policing, raising questions about what the public can expect from those in positions of power.
Terrence Connors and Vincent Doyle, lawyers for Justice Grisanti, said in a statement that the commission’s decision was the product of a thorough review that had examined “every inch” of the judge’s career.
“Today’s decision concludes that on balance, Justice Grisanti’s conduct during a two-hour period of one day, compared to his excellent record as a judge, does not warrant removal from the bench,” they said.
In the decision, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct acknowledged that Justice Grisanti’s behavior was unbecoming of a jurist, adding that he had exercised “exceptionally poor judgment.” Even so, the commission said that there were mitigating circumstances, including the judge’s genuine concern for his wife’s safety, recent loss of several family members and long-running feud with his neighbors, the Mele family.
“Respondent’s behavior during the June 22, 2020, incident appears to have been an aberration,” the majority opinion concludes.
Six members of the panel voted to censure Justice Grisanti, whose term officially ended in July of last year. He will continue to serve until the governor appoints a successor.
The remaining four commission members disagreed, voting to remove the judge, who was also charged with improperly disclosing assets and failing to recuse himself from matters involving a business associate.
A representative for Gov. Kathy Hochul offered no details on plans for Justice Grisanti’s future, saying only that the governor’s office would review the commission’s ruling.
Joseph W. Belluck, chair of the commission, was one of those to vote for Justice Grisanti’s removal, writing in his dissent that “there is a significant risk he will repeat this or similar behaviors in the future.”
This is not the first time that Justice Grisanti and his wife have been involved in a public brawl. In 2012, the couple found themselves in the middle of a fistfight during a black-tie event at a Niagara Falls casino. (The judge said that he had stepped in to serve as mediator and defend his wife, though some witnesses reported that he had been the aggressor).
A year earlier, the judge, at that time a Republican senator, had cast one of the deciding votes in favor of marriage equality across the state of New York. In 2015, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo appointed him to the Court of Claims.
The commission notes that the June 2020 incident followed years of tension with the Mele family, who had what the report calls a “propensity for confrontation and provocation.”
Gina Mele said in an interview that the evening erupted after the Grisantis returned home intoxicated and saw one of the Mele family members’ cars parked in front of their house.
Things quickly got out of hand: Police footage and court transcripts show that the couples exchanged coarse language, and punches were thrown. At some point, Justice Grisanti’s wife bit Ms. Mele’s husband, a move that the judge appeared to applaud.
“She had no choice, really, but to bite him,” he is quoted as saying in commission documents. “And I’m glad she did.”
The police arrived and moved to handcuff Ms. Grisanti, prompting the judge, at that point shirtless, to fly into a rage and tackle an officer, body-camera footage shows.
“If you don’t get the cuffs off her right now, you’re going to have a problem,” he tells the officer at one point. Later, he appears to attempt to remind the officer of his connections, noting that his son and daughter are on the police force.
“Listen, I’m good friends with Byron Brown,” he later says, invoking the mayor of Buffalo.
Ms. Mele, who filed the complaint with the judicial commission after Erie County prosecutors declined to charge the Grisantis, said that the ordeal had destroyed her faith in the justice system.
“Right from the start, he was treated differently because of who he was,” she said.
In the four years since the incident, Ms. Mele said that she and her husband have done their best to avoid the Grisanti family, who still live across the street.
But she said they continue to park wherever a spot becomes available — including in front of the Grisantis’ house.
“If you’re doing it legal, then there should be no problem with it,” she said. “He’s a judge. He should know what the laws are.”
