Michelle Troconis Seeks New Trial In Jennifer Dulos Case

STAMFORD, CT — Michelle Troconis, who was convicted last week in connection with the disappearance and death of Jennifer Farber Dulos, is seeking for her conviction to be overturned, and to receive a new trial.

Attorney Jon Schoenhorn, who represents Troconis, filed the motions on Thursday, stating, in part, that "the verdict of guilty is not supported by sufficient evidence to sustain the state’s burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt on any of the six counts."

In the motion for a new trial, Schoenhorn wrote:

a. [The prosecutors] improperly appealed to emotion and prejudice by telling the jury that the case
was “about” the Dulos children as they sat in the first two rows of the public gallery section of the courtroom in full view of jurors, when the case was actually “about” the guilt or innocence of the defendant, and none of the charges made reference to the children;

b. They repeatedly and improperly asserted that the defendant “lied” to police investigators when the trial evidence was in dispute on that very point, and thereby expressed a personal opinion about the defendant’s credibility;

c. The prosecutor who presented the rebuttal argument improperly and gratuitously engaged in an ad hominem attack on defense counsel and the presentation of evidence; and

d. They improperly engaged in speculation and made claims unsupported by evidence to suggest that random unrelated innocent acts were not a “coincidence” and therefore constituted a course of nefarious conduct for which no actual evidence was presented.

Troconis was found guilty on March 1 on all charges she faced:

• Conspiracy to commit murder
• Conspiracy to tamper with evidence
• Tampering with physical evidence (2 counts)
• Conspiracy to commit to tampering with physical evidence
• Hindering prosecution

During the six-week trial, prosecutors convinced the six-member jury that Troconis conspired with the late Fotis Dulos to kill his estranged wife. The prosecution relied heavily on three interrogation videos in English of Troconis, which is not her native language.

At times, she appeared to struggle a bit with the language, which Schoenhorn tried to point out during the trial.

Troconis is currently in custody at the York Correctional Institution in Niantic, and according to Schoenhorn, she will likely remain there for the foreseeable future.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on May 31, at which time, she faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 to 50 years in prison, depending on whether the terms run concurrently or consecutively.

"It does not appear she will be making bond any time soon," Schoenhorn said in an email to Patch. Following her conviction last week, Schoenhorn said he anticipated that she may be able to make bond at some point this week.

Troconis' bail was raised from $2.1 million to $6 million following her conviction, largely because she was deemed a possible flight risk due, in part, to the fact that she holds dual citizenship (United States and Venezuela). She would have to post $420,000 in cash, or 7 percent, plus property as collateral, in order to bond out.

If Troconis makes bond, she will be on house arrest and will be required to again wear a GPS monitoring device, something for which Schoenhorn had successfully argued to have removed.

In the motion for a new trial, Schoenhorn also spelled out a litany of places where he claims the court erred during the first trial, such as denying certain motions, not allowing some cross-examination, and separating the selection of the jury and trial by three months, which resulted in the loss of some jurors.

Connecticut defense attorney Lindy Urso, who observed the trial but was not a member of Troconis' defense team, told Patch this week that he believes Troconis might be able to get a new trial.

"I was surprised the jury convicted on Conspiracy to Commit Murder," Urso wrote in an email to Patch. "We do not have a 'Conspiracy after the fact' law in Connecticut, and I didn't see proof of foreknowledge beyond a reasonable doubt. Unfortunately, I believe Michelle was the state's star witness, with those ill-advised 3 interviews she did with police. Without those, I don't know that Michelle would have ever even been charged.

"There were a lot of difficult pretrial issues and rulings in this case and, knowing our appeals courts, I think there is a better than usual chance that she prevails on appeal and we are doing this all over again in a few years."

Urso is not the only attorney who believes Troconis should not have been convicted of all charges.

Jennifer Dulos, a 50-year-old mother of five children, vanished from her New Canaan home on May 24, 2019, and is believed to have been murdered by the late Fotis Dulos, her estranged husband. Her body has not been found, and a probate judge officially declared her dead late last year.

Though he was arrested on kidnapping and murder charges, Fotis Dulos never stood trial, because he died after a suicide attempt in January 2020. The Duloses were in the midst of a contentious divorce and child custody fight when Jennifer disappeared, and Troconis was Fotis' girlfriend at the time.

The Dulos case:

• Jennifer Dulos Case: Jury Deliberations Begin In Troconis Trial
• Jennifer Farber Dulos' Family: Seeing Bloody Evidence Was 'Brutal'
• Jennifer Dulos Case: Jury Hears Authorities Feared For Troconis' Life
• Jennifer Dulos Case: New Updates As Mystery Remains Unsolved
• New DNA Evidence Disclosed In Jennifer Dulos Disappearance
• New Documentary Explores Jennifer Dulos Murder Mystery
• Troconis Wants Evidence Thrown Out In Dulos Disappearance Case
• Mystery Continues 3 Years After Jennifer Farber Dulos' Disappearance
• New Details On How Jennifer Dulos May Have Died: Warrant
• Jennifer Dulos Case: Examination Of Forensic Evidence Continues
• Fotis Dulos Pressed Witness To Destroy Evidence: Court Testimony
• Jennifer Dulos Case: Troconis To Face Contempt Charge In Trial
• Jurors Dismissed, Blood Evidence Presented In 1st Week Of Dulos Trial
• Jennifer Dulos Case: Troconis Does Not Testify; Defense Rests: Report
• Jennifer Farber Dulos: 4 Years Since Her Disappearance
• Family Releases Statement On Jennifer Farber Dulos' 51st Birthday