The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Media attention prompts gag order debate
STAMFORD — There was a moment this month when Norm Pattis admitted he thought he’d have to call his wife to plead his innocence when he saw a headline about his client, Fotis Dulos, offering his attorney a “sex pad.”
“I did a double take,” Pattis told Stamford Superior Court Judge John Blawie. “I was relieved to find out it wasn’t about me.”
Pattis made the comment as he argued vigorously against the prosecution’s request for a gag order that would prohibit him from speaking publicly in defense of Fotis Dulos, charged in the disappearance of his estranged wife. The intention of a gag order is to prevent details of the case from being made public to prejudice potential jurors.
That headline, referring to an attorney who had represented Fotis Dulos in a civil lawsuit filed by his motherinlaw, is among thousands that have been written worldwide since Jennifer Dulos disappeared on May 24.
Fotis Dulos, 52, and his girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, 44, have each pleaded not guilty to tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in connection with the disappearance.
Pattis said there hasn’t been a day since he was hired in early June that a reporter hasn’t contacted him seeking a comment about tidbits of information leaked about the case.
“What’s driving the public interest in this case is the preoccupation with the suspicion that Mr. Dulos is guilty of murder, Pattis told the judge. “There are no murder
charges in this case. I am unaware that there will be any in the near term.”
Police said they believe Jennifer Dulos was the victim of a “serious physical assault” based on blood spatter and blood stains found in the garage of her New Canaan home, according to arrest warrants.
State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo, who requested the gag order, has said Fotis Dulos’ DNA was found mixed with his wife’s blood on the faucet of her kitchen sink.
The night of the disappearance, police said two people resembling Fotis Dulos and Troconis were seen on video making more than 30 stops in a 4mile stretch in Hartford. Police said the man resembling Fotis Dulos was seen dumping bags into trash cans and expired license plates registered to him into a storm drain. Police said some of the evidence tossed in the trash was recovered and contained Jennifer Dulos’ bloody clothing and cleaning items.
Pattis is no stranger to generating controversy or dealing with a swarm of reporters when representing his clients.
“It’s another ball in the air — it complicates the juggling,” Pattis said in an interview last week about how dealing with the media affects his job.
Pattis has been determined to counter any allegations made by unnamed police sources with explanations of his own — a fact that has angered many, including Colangelo.
The prosecutor said Pattis’ contention that Troconis passed a lie detector test was untrue, since the polygraph never happened and that the flamboyant attorney was prejudicing the case by publicly announcing his defense strategy.
“I get that counsel has an obligation to his client, I get that the rule allows him to comment, I just want him to stay within the bounds,” Colangelo told the court.
Pattis threatened that if a gag order were issued, he would take the case to the state Supreme Court — and the media.
“Our objective is to cast enough doubt on the state’s case such that we don’t have to face a murder charge,” Pattis said. “And we will go to the press and make that case.”