Michelle Troconis is back in court ahead of her trial set to start in January for what the state believes was her role in the disappearance and death of Jennifer Dulos – the mother of five that went missing back in 2019.
Michelle Troconis is back in a Stamford courtroom ahead of her full trial, which is expected to kick off on Jan. 8.
Her lawyer requested suppression hearings to attempt to toss out her phone as evidence and statements made during interrogations with authorities following her arrest in June 2019.
The state argued there was probable cause for the seizure of her phone back on May 31, 2019 because of the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos, who is believed to have been murdered by her estranged husband Fotis Dulos, who was dating Troconis at the time.
They argue once they arrived at her home, she could have reason to attempt to destroy evidence on her phone, and it needed to be seized in that moment.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
“Did he have probable cause, and was there exigency to take that phone, at that moment,” Michelle Manning with the Connecticut State's Attorney’s Office said.
The state believes responding officers did consider the critical evidence the phone could hold, but the lawyer for Troconis argues otherwise.
“In my opinion, that is not the law, it has never been the law, it's certainly not the law in Connecticut and I would say it's an unconstitutional argument,” Attorney Jon Schoenhorn said.
Local
Schoenhorn argues the state’s case for the seizure of the phone is too vague and could apply too widely. So, without the warrant, the phone should be tossed from evidence, he says.
“There was nothing incriminating on Michelle Troconis’ phone, it was basically a wholesale seizure of everything in her phone,” Schoenhorn said.
The judge expects to decide on the phone within a few days. Schoenhorn then moved to have video capturing the initial interrogation of Troconis thrown out, too.
“There is no confession, evidence of incriminating nature on any of these videos,” Schoenhorn said.
He claims in the video submitted from the day Troconis was arrested, and subsequent days, that she was unlawfully coerced, pushed and denied some basic rights.
“Who came up with the scheme to drag her in the middle of the night, rip her from her daughter and take her to New Canaan, then the interrogation that went until the middle of the night, one or two in the morning and then picking up the next day,” Schoenhorn said.
In the first video submitted, which was viewed in court late Monday, she was read her Miranda rights when she was placed in a state police cruiser, and she acknowledged she understood the rights.
But Schoenhorn plans to showcase this week more missteps in the handling of Troconis that will lead to the statements given being tossed out.
Troconis’ full jury trial is expected to begin on Jan. 8.
