Justice Delayed The Tragic Story of the Buffalo 5

By Betty Jean Grant

Betty Jean Grant

The story of the Buffalo 5 is marked by coerced confessions, withheld evidence, ignored witnesses, and a failure to investigate alternative suspects. Decades later, the weight of this injustice remains unbearable.

One of the wrongfully convicted men spent 32 years behind bars—10 years longer than his sentence required. Why? Because he refused to show remorse for a crime he didn’t commit. At his final parole hearing, he was released without being asked to express remorse. Tragically, just 10 months after his release, he passed away from a massive heart attack, likely exacerbated by years of stress and poor health during incarceration.

Today, the Buffalo 5—now senior citizens— continue to fight for justice. One lawsuit against the city has been settled, but another, addressing the 1976 Erie County District Attorney's role, is still pending. It is expected to be resolved in 2025, nearly 50 years after the crime occurred.

These men have already paid far too much for the failures of a justice system riddled with bias and dishonesty. Their lives and dreams were stolen by a system that prioritized convictions over truth. The time has come for Buffalo and Erie County to right this historic wrong and deliver the justice these men so profoundly deserve.

In the Buffalo News edition of Friday, November 29, you’ll find a story that will stir your heart and challenge your sense of justice. It recounts a harrowing tale of wrongful convictions that robbed five teenagers of their youth and dreams.

In 1976, five 16-year-old friends were arrested, charged, and convicted for a crime they did not commit. The victim, a white man, and the accused, poor Black teenagers with minor arrest records, set the stage for a miscarriage of justice rooted in systemic racism and misconduct.

From the outset, the case was flawed. There was no physical evidence linking any of the teenagers to the crime. Yet, they were rounded up, interrogated, and ultimately convicted. Three of them spent decades in prison. One was acquitted, and the fifth was coerced into providing false testimony in exchange for P immunity.

That fifth teenager was misled by police and prosecutors, who told him that his friends had already confessed and implicated him as the one wielding the weapon. Under this pressure, he agreed to testify falsely and was promptly sent out of town to enlist in the military. Haunted by his actions, he later tried to recant his testimony, writing numerous letters to law enforcement and the district attorney’s office, but to no avail.