Oct 13
2025
Will a judge and jury believe this narc?
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To hear Erie County Sheriff John Garcia tell it, D.J. Granville has an unblemished record as his chief of narcotics. Except he doesn’t, as reported by Charlie Specht.
The key evidence seized from a Buffalo home associated with [David] Burgin was thrown out of court after Granville and other members of his narco unit were caught on video allegedly staging evidence, conducting illegal searches, and misleading a judge, court records show.
A federal judge wrote that the case revealed “damning evidence of … unlawful conduct by law enforcement officers” and said Granville’s actions were “an egregious violation of the Fourth Amendment” to the U.S. Constitution that protects citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.
Meanwhile, The Buffalo News reported that none of the cops involved with the “investigation” — and I use the term loosely — into Granville’s infamous car crash will be criminally charged. That’s what happens when none of the cops cooperate with prosecutors.
Said Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman, who handled the investigation:
“This determination is not an endorsement of their conduct or an exoneration from wrongdoing. It is simply a determination that there is insufficient evidence to sustain criminal charges.”
Granville was due to report back to work at the beginning of this month after serving a 30-day suspension Garcia handed down after Granville pled guilty in August to reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
It’s hard to see how a guy accused by a judge of conducting illegal searches and lying to the court can function as the chief of narcotics. Defense attorneys will raise credibility issues on any investigation Granville touches.
The five cops who refused to cooperate with the DA are still sitting at home collecting a paycheck. Their leave is costing taxpayers a lot of money.
The DA’s decision not to prosecute enables the Buffalo police department to wrap up its investigation of the officers’ response to the accident.
Tom Golisano has bought The Buffalo News building from Doug Jemal, who is selling off properties as quickly as he once bought them. Unlike Jemal, Golisano has the financial wherewithal to redevelop the building, which will be home to Golisano Institute for Business and Entrepreneurship, which he established in 2023 in Rochester.
We reported a month ago that Jemal owed eight contractors some $3.7 million for work they’ve done on 15 of his projects. That includes a building in the 500 block of Main Street, a few doors up from Investigative Post’s offices, which was closed this week for emergency stabilization work.
Jemal recently gave an interview to The News crabbing about Buffalo, declaring; “I don’t think we function as a community or a city.”
The Erie Canal was an engineering marvel when it was built. And really bad for the Native American tribes that called much of the land it was constructed on home. The New York Times has the story (gift link). Meanwhile, Central Current, the nonprofit news outlet in Syracuse, reported on a protest noting the canal’s harm to Indigenous people.
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The Ithaca Voice reports that authorities, including the FBI, are investigating a flurry of threats made against a variety of elected officials, government employees, educators, banks and media outlets.
Here’s a hat trick of stories from New York Focus:
- Surprise Trump Move Will Upend New York Food Stamps
- New York’s Biggest ICE Detention Center Bans Book Deliveries
- ICE Detainees in New York Jails Can’t Talk to Their Lawyers
I’ve been looking at a lot of polling data on a variety of issues. Here’s what I found of interest:
- More than a quarter of Americans, Democrats and Republicans alike, say political violence may be justified given the current political climate.
- Two-thirds say we’re too polarized to solve the country’s problems.
- Depending on the poll, President Trump’s disapproval rating is as high as 58 percent.
- Confidence in the U.S. media has hit an all-time low, with barely over a quarter respondents saying the press is trustworthy. There are significant differences of opinion based on age and party affiliation.
- Zohran Mamdani has a smaller, but still comfortable lead over Andrew Cuomo in the race for New York City mayor.
- Six in ten Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Israel in light of its war in Gaza.
A website to check out: NewsGuard, which, in its words “combines human expertise and technology to provide data, analysis and journalism that helps enterprises and consumers identify reliable information online.”
It’s a companion to The Death of Truth, authored by media critic Steven Brill, which will be the topic of Investigative Post’s first book club discussion Tuesday, Nov. 18 at Fitz Books.
This review gives you a good overview of the book, which I read over the summer with great interest. As the review states: “The scope and detail of Brill’s work are mind-blowing, and the information conveyed is extremely important.”
Pick up a copy at your local independent bookstore – not Amazon! – and join us Nov. 18.
Now, for something lighter. There’s a new movie coming out on Bruce Springsteen, Deliver Me From Nowhere, which opens in Buffalo Oct. 23. Here’s the trailer. Better yet, here’s The Boss in peak form, circa 1980. If that doesn’t get your blood flowing, and especially if it does, there’s also this, provided you believe in The Promised Land.
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