Lawyer requests Troconis’ release on bail pending appeal

Michelle Troconis’ lawyer is asking a judge to let her out of prison as her defense team works to appeal her conviction.

On May 31, Troconis was sentenced to 14 1/2 years in prison for her role in the disappearance and death of New Canaan mother and writer Jennifer Farber Dulos in 2019. Troconis had been out on bail for years then that her case was going to court, but she was arrested. in custody on $6 million bail following sentencing.

In March, a jury convicted Troconis of conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence, conspiracy to tamper with evidence and hindering prosecution following a weeks-long trial . Troconis, his lawyers and his family steadfastly maintained his innocence and quickly announced their intention to appeal the conviction.

On the day of the verdict, Troconis was handcuffed and taken into custody, with her bail significantly increased. She was taken to York Correctional Institution in Niantic where she has been held ever since.

On Monday, Troconis’ attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, filed a motion for review of an appeal bond denial, asking the court to consider a release or lower bond while his appeal is prepared.

Summing up in the motion, Schoenhorn said that although Troconis no longer enjoys the presumption of innocence following her conviction, “there is no evidence to suggest that she poses a flight risk.” There is nothing to suggest that she poses a danger to anyone.

Troconis was sentenced by Judge Kevin A. Randolph to 20 years in prison, suspended after 14 1/2 years, followed by five years of probation. Just after Randolph handed down that sentence, Schoenhorn announced his intention to appeal and asked the court to set an appeal bond, but the court denied the motion.

In this week’s motion, Schoenhorn wrote that there were more than two dozen issues in the case that would be resolved on appeal, “including insufficient evidence for the most serious crimes.”

The appeal, he wrote, “could result in a mistrial, a new trial or a reduced sentence.”

He said that because there were numerous “legal and evidentiary issues in the trial court’s record” and “an immense record spanning five years of litigation,” an effective appellate brief would take a lot of time. time.

“Such delay while Ms. Troconis is in jail is one reason why bail on appeal should be granted,” he wrote in the motion.

Schoenhorn also noted that since Troconis’ initial arrest in 2019, “she has always remained compliant with all conditions” of her release.

“In the five years since Ms. Troconis was first arrested, she has never violated the conditions of her release,” Schoenhorn said. “Moreover, the trial court made no finding – nor did the State argue – that detention was necessary to provide reasonable assurance of his appearance in court pending the outcome of his call. »

During her release, Troconis operated a business and residence in the Farmington area, but was allowed to travel often to Miami, Florida, to visit family and to Aspen, Colorado, for training. skiing for his daughters. Schoenhorn said she surrendered her passport.

A judge ruled that if released on appeal, Troconis must become a Connecticut resident and remain under house arrest 24/7.

Schoenhorn wrote that this stipulation means “she would have to pay for her own prison.”

He also told the court that the $6 million bail amount “was well beyond the means of the defendant and her family and she remained incarcerated on that condition alone” and that an excessively high bail amount high violated Troconis’s right to due process.

Schoenhorn said in the motion that a successful appeal “would result not only in the vacation of the conviction, but also in the dismissal of the charges.”

Troconis was the first person to stand trial in the death of Farber Dulos, a mother of five.

Farber Dulos disappeared while she was involved in an intense divorce and custody battle with her ex-husband, Fotis Dulos.

Troconis was dating and living with Dulos at the time of his disappearance and death. Dulos was charged in the disappearance and death of his wife, but committed suicide in 2020.

During Troconis’ trial, prosecutors said they believed she and Dulos plotted to kill Farber Dulos and that Dulos violently attacked his wife in his New Canaan garage. The couple, they said, then tried to cover their tracks, dumping the evidence in trash cans along Albany Avenue in Hartford.

Prosecutors and detectives say Troconis lied for Dulos, while Troconis maintains she didn’t know what her partner was doing, whether he was covering up or plotting.

Troconis, who is originally from South America and speaks Spanish and English, attended several police interviews in English, which his attorneys say led to confusion and misunderstandings. Prosecutors, on the other hand, say she was intentionally lying.

Farber Dulos was legally declared dead last October. His body has never been found.