Palenville woman arrested for Unlawful Grand Jury Disclosure
Troop F Commander
PRESS RELEASE
On August 14, 2015, the New York State Police, at Catskill arrested ROWENA J. BALDWIN, age 61, of Palenville, NY for Unlawful Grand Jury Disclosure, a class E Felony.
The arrest was the result of an investigation initiated by Greene County District Attorney, Joseph Stanzione, after he was apprized of information being heard in the community about current sealed grand jury proceedings which had been brought to the attention of the Catskill Village Police Department. The investigation, which was conducted by State Police and District Attorney’s Investigators, revealed that BALDWIN, one of the current term Grand Jurors, had been at a local business establishment where she allegedly disclosed information regarding testimony, identity of an accused suspect and results of proceedings that are required by law to be kept secret.
Secrecy of Grand Jury proceedings are of utmost importance for reasons which include the protection of witnesses who provide information about various crimes, the protection of victims of crimes and the protection of police officers whose responsibility it is to arrest those who should not yet be aware of their indictment.
BALDWIN was arrested on the above charges, processed at the Catskill State Police Barracks, and issued an appearance ticket returnable to the Village of Catskill Court on 08/20/15 at 2:00pm.
