As Michelle Troconis’ trial continues on Friday for a 23rd day, the judge has decided not to take up a formal contempt hearing on Friday over some documents the public was never supposed to see, but said the court will schedule a contempt hearing at the earliest after the defense rests.
Jennifer Dulos, a mom of five, and her husband, Fotis Dulos, were going through a divorce when Jennifer vanished on May 24, 2019.
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Police believe Fotis killed Jennifer in the garage of her home in New Canaan after she dropped their children off at school and then cleaned up the crime scene.
Fotis Dulos died in January 2020 by suicide after he was charged with his wife’s murder.
Troconis, 49, was dating Fotis Dulos when Jennifer disappeared and she is accused of helping him cover up the killing of his wife, whose body has never been found.
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She has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution and has pleaded not guilty and denied any involvement.
Her trial started in January.
The jury heard limited testimony about the sealed custody report on Thursday.
It was completed and shown to Fotis and Jennifer Dulos the month before Jennifer disappeared and is sealed, according to prior testimony, because it contains confidential health information and information about the five Dulos children.
The state told the judge that the report itself remains under seal and no one is supposed to have access to it, including the defendant.
The judge tasked the state’s attorney’s office with learning more about what the person in the gallery saw and how the person recognized the report if they too are not supposed to have seen it.
"The concern the state has is this notion that she would have access on her device to a report that it starts off that a member of the audience is able to see, which is clearly under seal. So, that is concerning. The second major point is that was displayed for the public with a news camera behind us and that she shouldn't even have read it to begin with,” assistant state's attorney Michelle Manning told the judge.
Judge Kevin Randolph said Friday that there will be no computer use in the courtroom other than by counsel, there will be no communication with the gallery at any time and no attempts to show approval or disapproval of a witness’ testimony.
“The court is not going to become a hallway monitor,” Randolph said. “So, if there are efforts to communicate with the jury or a witness, you will be removed. No hearing, just removed.”
Earlier in the day on Thursday, the state called guardian ad litem Michael Meehan to the stand.
As appointed guardian ad litem, his role was to represent the Dulos children’s best interest during the divorce proceedings between Jennifer and Fotis Dulos.
He testified about the ups and downs of the custody process.
He said Fotis Dulos “was down, he was concerned, he was upset,” following a custody ruling that barred Michelle Troconis from having contact with the children, and he claimed it was impacting his relationship with her.
Meehan then referenced a phone call he had with Fotis Dulos and Michelle Troconis in March 2019.
“He indicated that he was concerned that the continued litigation would have an adverse impact on his relationship with Ms. Troconis,” Meehan said.
Following that phone call, Meehan then described Fotis Dulos’ reaction following a custody report completed the month before Jennifer Dulos disappeared.
“He was a combination of emotions, I think. On the one hand, he was encouraged. On the other hand, he was upset and outraged,” Meehan said.
Prosecutors used this testimony to take aim at the heart of the defense.
They offered in prior days of the trial that their case revolves around the lack of motive Fotis Dulos had to kill Jennifer because the custody case was leaning in his favor.
The defense argues that Fotis had given Michelle Troconis the impression, even in the days leading up to Jennifer Dulos’ presumed murder, that the custody battle was leaning in Fotis’ favor.
But the defense was met with multiple objections as they began to pry into the contents of that report, which the judge deemed inadmissible. The court tightened the reigns around testimony from Meehan per a ruling by the judge on Wednesday that kept the contents of the report out of testimony.
The jury also saw new surveillance video from a neighbor of Fotis Dulos in Farmington and the final testimony on the day was from an FBI special agent Kevin Hoyland, who traveled from New Hampshire for testimony about cell phone records seized from AT&T that confirmed what had been learned in prior testimony.
