Prosecutors Ask State Supreme Court To End Dulos Gag Order Appeal

HARTFORD, CT — In a memorandum filed on Monday, prosecutors are calling on the state Supreme Court to dismiss the appeal filed by Fotis Dulos' attorney, Norm Pattis, over the gag order in the Jennifer Farber Dulos murder case.

The state Supreme Court gave the two sides until Feb. 25 to file briefs arguing why or why not the gag order appeal should be dismissed. As of 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Pattis' response had not been posted on the state Supreme Court website.

Last fall, Superior Court Judge John Blawie imposed the gag order on the parties involved in the case, requiring them not to speak publicly about it.

Included in the ban were attorneys for both sides, members of law enforcement, potential witnesses and others. Pattis filed an appeal to the state Supreme Court in October.

Fotis Dulos was facing murder and kidnapping charges in the killing of his estranged wife, Jennifer Dulos, when he committed suicide last month. Jennifer Dulos vanished on May 24 of last year, and her body has not been found.

The state argues that Fotis Dulos' death makes Pattis' appeal moot, partly because "there is no practical relief that he could gain were this Court to continue forward with his appeal."

Those same prosecutors are confident that the underlying murder case against Fotis Dulos will be nolled when the parties return to Stamford Superior Court on March 3.

Pattis, stressing that the matter has become personal for him, has vowed to try to move forward with the murder case in an effort to clear his deceased client's name.