As Michelle Troconis’ hearing approaches, CT prosecutors move to close courtroom, seal records
State prosecutors have filed a motion to have the courtroom closed to the public during an upcoming hearing in the case of Michelle Troconis, the ex-girlfriend of Fotis Dulos, and have any records related to the hearing sealed, records show.
The state filed the motion with the Superior Court in the Stamford judicial district on Feb. 9, ahead of an impending privilege waiver hearing that is set to take place sometime between March 9 and March 16, prosecutors said in the motion.
Troconis was first charged in June 2019 in connection to the disappearance and presumed death of her ex-boyfriend’s estranged wife, New Canaan mother of five Jennifer Farber Dulos, court records show.
The motion, signed by Assistant State’s Attorney Sean P. McGuinness, said the hearing is expected to cover two issues: whether a cover letter written by Troconis’ attorney Jon Schoenhorn to attorney Tara Knight falls under the category of privileged communication and, if it does, whether that privilege should be waived.
In November, Schoenhorn and prosecutors argued over their efforts to disqualify each other from her murder conspiracy case in a dispute over the handling of a contested letter. They appeared before a judge and met privately to argue whether prosecutors improperly — if inadvertently — obtained confidential communication between defense lawyers.
Troconis’ case was scheduled to be tried in 2022 but was sidetracked by an ongoing argument over a box containing a sweatshirt, a screwdriver, a wrench and the contested letter written by Schoenhorn to another defense lawyer.
Schoenhorn has argued that prosecutors should have known they were not entitled to the letter and should be removed as a sanction for its wider distribution. Prosecutors have said the letter isn’t privileged and demanded that Schoenhorn be disqualified from defending Troconis because they intend to call him as a witness at her trial to testify about the box and where he got it.
According to the newly filed motion, Schoenhorn is expected to introduce evidence of his privileged relationship and confidential communications with Knight. Prosecutors said in the motion that protecting attorney-client privilege overrules the right of the public to attend the hearing.
McGuinness said the state filed the motion not to agree or concede that the cover letter is privileged but in an effort to move the case along as quickly as possible.
According to the motion, Troconis agrees that the proceeding should be closed to the public.
Troconis is released on bond as she awaits trial. She faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder, evidence tampering and conspiring to hinder the police investigation by disposing of evidence in the death of Farber-Dulos.
Troconis was living in Farmington with contractor Fotis Dulos when Farber-Dulos went missing in May 2019. Prosecution filings in court accuse her of accompanying Dulos the day his wife disappeared as he dumped clothes and other evidence that has been tied to a murder into trash bins in Hartford.
Farber Dulos’ body was never found and Dulos committed suicide before he could be tried. Troconis has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Courant senior writer Edmund H. Mahony contributed to this report.
