The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Troconis’ lawyer wants motions heard before October court date
The attorney representing Michelle Troconis wants the Appellate Court to order state Judicial Branch officials to hear his client’s pending motions or suspend the use of the GPS unit she is required to wear after the criminal cases were continued to October without her “consent.”
Attorney Jon Schoenhorn has been trying for months to get a Superior Court judge to hear several motions he filed in February on behalf of Troconis, who is charged in the death of Jennifer Dulos.
Schoenhorn filed a motion in June asking the Appellate Court to require the Judicial Branch to hear his motions, including one that would remove the electronic monitoring his client is required to wear as part of the conditions of her release on $2.1 million bond.
The Appellate Court denied Schoenhorn’s request on the grounds the court had no jurisdiction since the Superior Court had not heard the motions. Schoenhorn is now seeking an Appellate review since his client’s case was continued to Oct. 1.
“The Appellate Court made clear on July 8 that I
needed a court order to request the review within 14 days, now I have one,” Schoenhorn said. “I’m asking them for a review.”
Troconis had been scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford on Aug. 6, but Schoenhorn believes the bulk of cases scheduled to be heard that day have been continued due to COVID-19 restrictions.
A judge continued the case to Oct. 1 since Troconis is out on bond, according to Melissa Farley, executive director of external affairs for the Judicial Branch.
Schoenhorn is requesting the Appellate Court to conduct an “expedited” review of the continuance and order the Judicial Branch to either schedule his client’s motions to be heard as soon as possible or remove the electronic monitoring until the motions are heard.
“Continued enforcement of the nonfinancial conditions substantially interferes with (Schoenhorn’s) constitutional obligation to investigate the charges and prepare a defense with the client’s assistance, without the state watching her every move,” Schoenhorn wrote in the petition for review filed on Tuesday.
Troconis is facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in the death and disappearance of Jennifer Dulos, who vanished May 24, 2019.
Judicial Branch officials responded to the pandemic by limiting operations and closing dozens of courthouses to protect employees and the public from the spread of the virus. Stamford Superior Court where Troconis' cases are being heard closed after employees in the probation office contracted COVID-19 and one of them died.
In response to Schoenhorn’s original Appellate Court request, Senior State’s Attorney Ronald Weller, of the Appellate Unit of the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office, said Troconis is seeking “preferential treatment” while others who are incarcerated have not been able to get a bond hearing.
“The petitioner minimizes the enormity of the disruption to our court system that this global pandemic has wrought,” Weller said. “She has already had her day, and in fact several days, in court on her bond conditions.”
Troconis and attorney Kent Mawhinney, who was also charged with conspiracy to commit murder, are the remaining defendants in the case.
Fotis Dulos, the estranged husband of Jennifer Dulos, died Jan. 30 from an apparent suicide as he faced murder, kidnapping and other charges in the case.
According to arrest warrants, police believe Fotis Dulos used an employee’s pickup truck to drive from his Farmington home to New Canaan the morning of May 24, 2019. Police said Fotis Dulos parked the truck near Waveny Park and rode a vintage French bicycle to his estranged wife’s home on Welles Lane.
According to arrest warrants, Fotis Dulos was “lying in wait” when his estranged wife returned from dropping off their children at school. Police said Jennifer Dulos was the victim of a “serious physical assault” and has been presumed dead based on the blood evidence found in her garage, the arrest warrants state.
Around the time Jennifer Dulos was reported missing that night, police said Hartford surveillance cameras captured two people resembling Fotis Dulos and Troconis making a series of stops along Albany Avenue.
The man was seen dumping trash bags and a license plate that was later discovered to be registered to Fotis Dulos, according to arrest warrants. The bags contained Jennifer Dulos’ blood and clothing, the arrest warrants state.
Video also captured Fotis Dulos and Troconis taking the employee’s pickup truck to a car wash in Avon a few days after police believe Jennifer Dulos was killed, according to arrest warrants. Police later discovered Jennifer Dulos’ blood on one of the vehicle’s seats, arrest warrants state.