BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Buffalo police officer once charged with assault, tagged for termination and barred from the witness stand has been promoted to detective and is again allowed to testify. “Irremediable problems of credibility” prompted a ban on Joseph Hassett taking the stand, District Attorney John Flynn wrote in a 2019 letter to police. The department then put Hassett on desk duty and sought termination.
After an arbitrator overruled the department in 2020, Hassett returned to street duty. He’s now a detective. “Oh my god,” attorney Richard Weisbeck responded during a recent deposition when Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia revealed that Hassett had been promoted.
A year ago, Flynn rescinded his edict, saying that Hassett could testify on a “case-by-base” basis. What’s changed since 2019? “I regret using the word ‘irremediable,’” said Flynn, who barred Hassett from testifying after a judge acquitted him for allegedly tripping a handcuffed prisoner, then jumping on him. “I mean, Charles Manson is irremediable. … I don’t know why, quite frankly, I did use that word at the time. Looking back on it, that was an inappropriate word.”
