State: Troconis missed chance for venue change
STAMFORD — The case against Michelle Troconis in the death and disappearance of Jennifer Dulos will continue in Stamford Superior Court while the judge considers the defense’s arguments for a change of venue.
Troconis, who appeared for the first time via video conference for her court hearing Tuesday, previously pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution charges.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Judge John Blawie addressed defense attorney Jon Schoenhorn’s request for a change of venue to Hartford County. Schoenhorn contends the proceedings should be moved there because the crimes his client is accused of committing allegedly occurred there.
“That is the appropriate jurisdiction for these cases,” he said Tuesday.
Assistant State’s Attorney Daniel Cummings countered that Troconis’ prior attorney, Andrew Bowman, waived any objections to the case being held in Stamford. He said, over the greater part of a year, Bowman and his client raised no objections to the cases being heard in Stamford and thereby waived any claims to a change of venue.
“That constitutes a clear waiver,” Cummings said. “The transcripts speak for themselves.”
Blawie did not issue a ruling Tuesday on the motion for a venue change.
Schoenhorn also claimed the prosecution has been withholding evidence from him since he was hired in February.
Since taking over, Schoenhorn has filed three motions “to compel” the state to share evidence, including the autopsy report from the death of Fotis Dulos, any documents and photos related to a strip search of his client, a sealed custody report from the Dulos divorce case and an unpublished manuscript written by Jennifer Dulos, among other things.
Chief State’s Attorney Richard J. Colangelo Jr. said much of what Schoenhorn has asked for will soon be made available to him as a part of a four-terabyte file.
In light of this, Blawie said the motions to compel the state to share evidence will be “put on the back burner” until Schoenhorn has time to review the new files.
The next hearing date was set for Jan. 25 when both sides are expected to give arguments about the prosecution’s request to consolidate the three Troconis cases.
Colangelo filed a motion last week, requesting the cases be consolidated because there is “cross-admissible” evidence. Schoenhorn opposed combining the cases, saying it’s too early in the pretrial process to make that decision.
Jennifer Dulos was last seen on a neighbor’s security footage on May 24, 2019, returning to her New Canaan home after dropping off her kids at school. The mother of five has never been found, but she is presumed dead based on blood and other evidence found in her garage, police said.
Police believe Fotis Dulos was “lying in wait” in the garage and attacked his estranged wife, according to arrest warrants.
Fotis Dulos faced murder, kidnapping and other charges in the case when he died from an apparent suicide in January.
Troconis, his ex-girlfriend, and his former attorney Kent Mawhinney, who has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, are the remaining defendants in the case.
Colangelo has prosecuted the charges against Troconis as three separate cases that have appeared on the docket on the same date. In August, he added two counts of conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence.
Schoenhorn contends the crimes his client is accused of committing occurred in Hartford County. The first tampering and hindering prosecution charges stem from videos that show Troconis in a black pickup truck with Fotis Dulos as he stopped along Albany Avenue in Hartford to dump bags in trash bins on the night of the disappearance, according to arrest warrants. The bags contained Jennifer Dulos’ blood and clothing, the warrants stated.
The second tampering charge is related to Troconis helping to clean a red pickup truck that police say was involved in the Jennifer Dulos homicide, according to the arrest warrants.
The conspiracy to commit murder charge largely stems from Troconis trying to fabricate an alibi for Fotis Dulos the morning his estranged wife disappeared, arrest warrants state. Troconis was at his Farmington home with Mawhinney that morning, police said.
Troconis initially contended she saw Fotis Dulos that morning in his home, but later admitted to state police that she hadn’t seen him until the afternoon, according to arrest warrants.