CONNECTICUT, USA — Michelle Troconis' attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, has filed to dismiss all charges filed against Troconis as well as the transfer of prosecutors and judicial district in the Jennifer Dulos case at a status hearing in Stamford Superior Court Tuesday.
Troconis was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in connection with the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos in May 2019. Troconis has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Schoenhorn said the state deliberately violated Troconis' constitutional right to counsel and a fair trial after knowing and intentionally violating the attorney-client privilege, by reviewing and then using the privileged communication to further trial strategy.
The motion submitted Tuesday, claimed that any investigation or information taken from there by the office of the state's attorney must be excluded and not used in the prosecution's case.
Troconis also said the conduct of the prosecutors and members of the State Police Western District Major Crime Squad state tainted the prosecution and the future investigation.
"Despite being told that Attorney Schoenhorn was her client, and with the obvious knowledge that the letter was a privileged communication, [State Police Detective George] Clabby read, photographed and disseminated the communication between Attorney Schoenhorn and Attorney Knight to others, without permission of either Attorneys Schoenhorn or Knight," Schoenhorn said in a motion to dismiss.
Troconis defense team is now seeking remedies which could include the dismissal of all pending charges against her. Other remedies requested could include the transfer of the case outside of the Stamford-Norwalk Judicial District; Removal of involvement of the Stamford-Norwalk State's Attorney Office; Transfer of the investigation; Transfer of the case to another judicial district who has no knowledge of privileged materials; The sealing of the privileged documents in the court clerk’s office; Imposition of a procedure by which transcripts sought by future prosecutors and investigators would be reviewed and filtered through a designated official and a judge of the Superior Court, prohibition on [State Police Detectives] Clabby’s, Olivetti’s, and Kimball’s future involvement in the investigation and from sharing information with any investigators or prosecutors; A bar on the involvement of Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Ronald Weller, and the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney for their involvement in the privileged communication to draft and sign the motion to disqualify counsel.
On May 24, 2019, Jennifer Dulos went missing after dropping her children off at school. Her SUV was found in a New Canaan park.
She has not been seen since.
About a week later, Fotis Dulos, her estranged husband, and Traconis, who was Fotis Dulos' girlfriend at the time Jennifer went missing, were arrested on charges of tampering with the evidence.
Fotis Dulos was charged with murder in January. At the same time, Troconis and Kent Mawhinney, a friend of Fotis Dulos, were charged with conspiracy to commit murder and had a court set bond of $2 million.
Three weeks later Fotis Dulos took his own life.
In late August, 2020, Michelle Troconis was charged with tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution.
The new charges were in connection with what authorities say were efforts to cover up the killing of Jennifer Dulos.
Additionally, the judge ruled that Troconis no longer has to be part of the Intensive Probation supervision program.
The attorney for Michelle Troconis had asked the court to review and modify the conditions under which she has been held on house arrest. Defense counsel released three videos in 2021 they said bolsters their case.
Jareliz Diaz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jdiaz@fox61.com
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