The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
New attorney wants Troconis’ house arrest lifted
STAMFORD — The newly hired attorney for Michelle Troconis is seeking to have a judge remove many of the restrictions of her release on bond, including required drug testing, electronic monitoring and house arrest, according to court documents filed Wednesday.
The documents reveal a look at the 45-year-old Troconis' life after being accused of conspiring with Fotis Dulos to kill his estranged wife, Jennifer Dulos, who was last seen May 24 and is presumed dead.
The conditions of Troconis’ release on a total of $2.1 million bond are "unconstitutional, excessive and unrelated to any legitimate purpose that permits courtordered non-financial conditions of release," attorney Jon Schoenhorn, who was hired by Troconis this week, wrote in the motion filed in state Superior Court in Stamford.
Troconis had previously been free on $600,000 and $100,000 bonds and monitored by a GPS tracking device for two counts of tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in the case.
Troconis was ordered to be on house arrest when she was released on an additional $1.5 million bond on the conspiracy to commit murder charge last month.
Schoenhorn contends that Troconis was illegally held after she was arrested on Jan. 7, because she was precluded from posting bond until after her arraignment on Jan. 9.
Troconis is required to submit to periodic drug testing, even though she has no history of drug use, Schoenhorn said.
"There was no reasonable basis to believe, nor was any information provided at any time, to suggest that Michelle Troconis is or was drug-dependent," the attorney said. "The court's imposition of mandatory drug testing as a condition of release is, therefore, unsupported, unreasonably punitive, and serves no other purpose besides humiliation and punishment."
Troconis cannot leave her 1,000square-foot condo except for prearranged church services, medical appointments and attorney meetings and has not been able to work or shop for herself since being placed on house arrest last month.
Fotis Dulos, who was charged with felony murder, murder and first-degree kidnapping in the case, “was allowed to continue to work and shop for himself while on house arrest," Schoenhorn said.
Schoenhorn is seeking the removal of many of the restrictions, which he contends also ban Troconis
from taking her 15-year-old daughter out during their visits. Shoenhorn also pointed out his client’s daughter attends school out of state.
The conditions of Troconis’ release are also hampering her efforts to participate in her own defense and she has no prior criminal record other than the three pending cases related to the disappearance and death of Jennifer Dulos, Schoenhorn said.
Schoenhorn also filed a motion Wednesday to have his client’s cases moved to Hartford Superior Court because the crimes she is accused of occurred in that jurisdiction.
Now that Fotis Dulos has died, defense attorneys say the state’s attention has nowhere to turn but to his alleged accomplices, Troconis and his close friend and former attorney, Kent Mawhinney.
For the first time since the investigation began more than eight months ago, 469 pages of search warrants in the case were recently unsealed.
The documents outline how police believe Fotis Dulos, Troconis and Mawhinney allegedly conspired to kill Jennifer Dulos and cover up the crime. Mawhinney, 54, remains jailed on $2 million bond on a conspiracy to commit murder charge.
According to arrest warrants,
Jennifer Dulos was last seen on a neighbor’s security camera at 8:05 a.m. May 24, returning to her New Canaan home after dropping off her children at a nearby school.
Police believe Fotis Dulos was “lying in wait” and attacked her in the garage, the warrants indicate.
According to arrest warrants, Troconis and Mawhinney attempted to establish an alibi for Fotis Dulos while police say he was in New Canaan that morning.
Troconis and Dulos also created “alibi scripts” that police found in their Jefferson Crossing home, according to arrest warrants.
However, Troconis and Mawhinney provided contradicting statements when interviewed by investigators, the warrants said. Troconis eventually admitted to lying and told investigators Dulos wasn’t home when she woke up that morning, according to the warrant.
Troconis provided an alibi for herself by taking selfies with the Stop & Shop robot in Simsbury and visited two friends that morning, according to the arrest warrants.
Police said two people resembling Fotis Dulos and Troconis were captured on video in Hartford later that night around the time Jennifer Dulos was reported missing.
A man police contend is Dulos was seen on the videos dumping bags that were later determined to contain his wife’s blood and clothing, the warrants said.
A separate arrest warrant said Dulos and Troconis took a red Toyota Tacoma pickup truck belonging to a Fore Group employee to a car wash in the days after the disappearance. Police said in the warrant that they believe Dulos drove the truck to New Canaan the morning of the disappearance.
Dulos also urged the employee to remove the seats, which were later found to contain his wife’s blood, according to the warrant