The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Judge to decide if jury sees Troconis interviews
STAMFORD — Judge Kevin Randolph said he would decide by Thursday whether to grant a request from Michelle Troconis’ lawyer to suppress statements she made to police investigating Jennifer Dulos’ 2019 disappearance from being introduced at her upcoming trial on charges she conspired in the New Canaan mother’s death.
After several days of testimony from police involved in the case, Troconis’ attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, and Assistant State’s Attorney Sean McGuinness argued over whether the conduct of law enforcement officers trying to get information about Dulos’ disappearance was itself lawful.
The two sides also argued whether the information police obtained after talking with her should be put before a jury. Troconis is charged with conspiracy to commit murder, two counts of conspiracy to tamper with physical evidence, two counts of tampering with physical evidence and second-degree hindering prosecution in Dulos’ disappearance and probable death.
The body of Jennifer Dulos, a mother of five, has never been found, and her family and authorities have presumed her dead. Her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, died by suicide in January 2020, three weeks after he was charged with her murder.
Video surveillance footage captured around the time Jennifer Dulos disappeared showed Troconis sitting in the front seat of Fotis Dulos’ pickup truck as he dropped bags later found to contain Jennifer Dulos’ blood and DNA into garbage cans, according to the arrest warrants in the case.
Schoenhorn said the conduct of police investigating the case was designed to coerce and deceive Troconis, who they interviewed several times over the course of several days following Dulos’ disappearance.
During one of the interviews, then-Connecticut State Police Detective John Kimball pressed Troconis for information while spelling out the downside of withholding information.
“This is your chance right now. If you want to see your family again, if you want to see your daughter again, and not get charged with murder, we want to know who was involved and where Jennifer Dulos is. We know you know,” Kimball said during one of the interviews.
“To say that you’re going to lose your child, you’re going to lose your family, that is the lie that was a deceptive and coercive tactic,” Schoenhorn said during a remote hearing Wednesday.
Judge Randolph interrupted to note that police wouldn’t be able to terminate Troconis’ parental rights even if she was convicted.
“There is no reasonable conception of ‘lose your family’ that makes any sense,” the judge told Schoenhorn. “Even if you’re incarcerated the police cannot determine that you can have no visits.”
Schoenhorn responded that
Troconis grew up in Venezuela, where “people disappear and their families disappear” after being accused of crimes — and that Troconis was threatened with unlawful penalties regardless because she was taken from her daughter after being arrested initially.
“They didn’t say ‘If you’re convicted, if you go to jail,’” Schoenhorn said. “It’s more like ‘Listen, you want to get back to your daughter, you don’t want to lose your daughter, you’ve got to talk to us, you’ve got to tell us more, you’ve got to tell us where Jennifer Dulos is.’”
The attorney also raised procedural issues with Troconis’ prosecution, saying that errors in handling the case meant evidence should be thrown out.
McGuinness noted that Troconis was given her Miranda rights several times and also assisted by her lawyer at the time, Andrew Bowman.
“She is an adult who is educated, who has work experience, and she is smart,” McGuinness said.
He also disagreed with Schoenhorn’s characterization of the detectives’ tactics.
“I have no recollection of any detective ever saying to her ‘You’re going to lose your child’ or any words to that effect or threatening some type of DCF or administrative sanctions,” McGuinness said. “What they did was they encouraged her to tell the truth with the reality that she could go to jail, and that’s not a deceptive tactic.”
The prosecutor also noted search warrants and arrest warrants in the case had been reviewed by other judges who found probable cause to sign them.
Randolph said Schoenhorn’s argument was “both interesting and novel” before saying he would issue a written decision by Thursday.
The judge has previously ruled that evidence obtained from a warrantless search of Troconis’ cell phone cannot be introduced at trial, which is expected to begin Jan. 8.