A 62-year-old Batavia woman who served on a grand jury in a murder case has been charged with unlawful grand jury disclosure, a Class E felony.
She is accused of disclosing to an acquaintance the decision of the grand jury to indict a person in a homicide case before the indictment was officially filed and became a matter of public record.
Janice L. Mortellaro, of Buell Street, was on a grand jury that was seated Dec. 8.
The Sheriff's Office, which handled the arrest of Mortellaro, is not disclosing which case she allegedly shared information about.
The District Attorney's Office is currently handling two homicide cases, the Dec. 1 death of Norman D. "Don" Bell in Le Roy and the discovery of a dead infant in a home on Liberty Street in August.
In the death of Bell, a neighbor, Kyle G. Johnson was arraigned on a second-degree murder indictment Dec. 15. In the case of the infant's death, the baby's mother, Christina M. Colantonio, was originally arrested on a murder charge, but she was released from jail after an autopsy could not prove a live birth. A second autopsy was ordered and no indictment has been announced in that case. It's uncertain if that case has even been presented to a grand jury at this point.
Mortellaro was arraigned in City Court and issued an appearance ticket for 9 a.m., Jan. 5, to answer to the charge.
So when you get called to
So when you get called to Grand Jury Service you swear an oath and are instructed to avoid talking about anything that transpires in the Grand Jury room with anybody, anywhere, except during the deliberations within the jury. So now, along come Mrs. I know better and the rules don't apply to me who thinks she can shoot her mouth off without consequence. Throw the book at her, she's a symptom of a greater malaise within our society where people think the rules apply to everybody except them.