First juror selected for Michelle Troconis trial in disappearance of Jennifer Farber Dulos
The first of six jurors in the trial for Michelle Troconis was officially selected Wednesday, just a few hours into what is expected to be a lengthy jury selection process at Stamford Superior Court.
Troconis, who appeared in court Wednesday morning with her attorney Jon Schoenhorn, is accused of allegedly conspiring with her former boyfriend Fotis Dulos to kill his estranged wife, Jennifer Farber Dulos, who disappeared in May 2019 and is presumed dead.
In reading the charges Wednesday morning, Judge Kevin A. Randolph said Troconis is charged with allegedly conspiring to kill Farber Dulos and tampering with physical evidence — and conspiring to tamper with evidence — connected to her disappearance.
Troconis was reportedly in a car with Dulos, who was seen on surveillance video throwing bags into various trash receptacles along Albany Avenue in Hartford after his estranged wife’s disappearance. Investigators believe that evidence of the murder was in those bags and in a red Toyota Tacoma pickup truck that was taken to an Avon car wash.
Troconis has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including tampering with evidence and conspiring to commit murder.
Six people will be selected to serve on the jury along with six alternates. The first juror was chosen around 12:45 p.m. Wednesday after undergoing the voir dire process.
Voir dire is the preliminary questioning of prospective jurors, one by one, in court. During the process, the judge and attorneys for the prosecution and the defense ask prospective jurors a series of questions to determine whether or not they could be impartial.
Prosecutors, defense attorneys or the judge can choose to excuse a juror based on a variety of reasons, including the ability to be impartial based on prior exposure to the case in the media or in their personal lives.
Before individually questioning jurors, the judge brought the entire jury pool that was called to court Wednesday into the courtroom. The potential jurors were given a long list of names of people who may be involved in the trial, including potential witnesses and investigators, and were asked to note whether they recognized any names on the list.
Schoehorn said Tuesday that the list would likely include 100 to 150 people. Randolph said it would likely take each juror about 10 minutes to read the list, prompting the decision to give the list to jurors to review prior to beginning voir dire.
After reviewing the list, more than a dozen people in the jury pool raised their hands when the judge asked if anyone had scheduling conflicts, financial hardships or other concerns that would prevent them from being able to serve on the jury for about six weeks.
They were called in one by one for questioning and were all dismissed.
The first, a financial consultant, was dismissed because he said jury service would “change the financial trajectory of his family.” He was excused from the jury.
The others were excused for reasons including booked vacations, child care responsibilities and scheduled surgeries. One claimed financial hardship as the owner of a small business and another said she was a single mother caring for a disabled adult son.
After those jurors were dismissed, the void dire process began for the remaining jury pool.
Randolph told attorneys for both sides that the court would be asking every prospective juror five questions: Whether they have heard about the case, whether they regularly follow media reports of the case, whether they have ever made any social media posts about the case, whether they have formed an opinion about the case and, lastly, whether they would be able to follow court instructions to avoid media coverage of the case and refrain from doing any independent research or investigating about the case.
The first potential juror to be questioned by state prosecutors and Troconis’ defense team said that he was on Farber Dulos’ street in New Canaan the day of her disappearance. He said he was working a few doors down while the investigation was unfolding and had later asked some New Canaan Police Department detectives if he knew about the case because he was curious.
The judge interrupted questioning to consult with counsel and excused the juror.
Attorneys for both sides asked prospective jurors what they think about the case based on what they have seen or read in the media, whether they would be able to put what they have read and watched out of their minds and consider only the evidence presented in court and whether they could disregard portrayals of criminal trials they have seen in television shows like “Law and Order” and “CSI.”
Troconis’ defense team also asked at least one juror whether they had a problem with Troconis being bilingual or objected to her wearing a translation device in her ear during court proceedings. That juror said it was not a problem.
Troconis appeared in court wearing a white blouse with a gray sweater tied around her shoulders. She ate lunch at a nearby diner and re-entered the courthouse after lunch while talking on her cell phone.
Multiple family and friends were seated behind her in the courtroom during Wednesday’s proceedings.
Jury selection is expected to continue Thursday and last two to four weeks.
Randolph instructed the jury pool that attorneys will begin presenting evidence in the case on Jan. 8, 2024, and that the evidence portion of the trial is expected to conclude no later than March 1.
The judge denied a motion from Schoenhorn asking to have 12 jurors serve on the jury. He also denied another motion on Wednesday morning in which Schoenhorn asked for jurors to be selected from the Hartford Judicial District rather than the Fairfield Judicial District.
Schoenhorn has made previous requests to have the case heard in Hartford, which were also denied.
