HARTFORD, Conn. _ The attorney representing Michelle Troconis advised her to plead the Fifth Amendment to every question during a recent deposition in a civil lawsuit because he fears she could be charged with conspiracy or homicide in the disappearance or death of missing New Canaan mother Jennifer Farber Dulos.
The lawyer, Andrew Bowman, said in court documents filed Wednesday that Troconis asserting her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination is an obvious safeguard given "a continuing investigation which may or may not result in a homicide charge or in a conspiracy charge."
"Ms. Troconis is in the very difficult position of not only being charged with certain serious crimes but also runs a risk that she could be charged with additional crimes as a result of law enforcement's continuing investigation," Bowman wrote.
"Even acknowledging knowing Fotis Dulos is incriminating."
Troconis was romantically involved with Farber Dulos' estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, and is already facing tampering charges. Prosecutors have already said in court papers they believe Fotis Dulos played a key role in her disappearance and that he was "lying in wait" for her outside her New Canaan home on May 24, the last day she was seen alive. He has not been charged in her death.
The deposition of Troconis was part of a civil lawsuit against Fotis Dulos filed by Jennifer Farber Dulos' family over millions in loans granted during the marriage to help support Fotis' Dulos real estate business. Wednesday's motion was a response to a demand that Troconis answer the questions she refused to during the initial Sept. 25 deposition.
Troconis has already been charged twice with tampering with evidence charges in the May 24 disappearance of Jennifer Farber Dulos. She has pleaded not guilty and is free on two bonds of $600,000 as state police continue to investigate. Fotis Dulos also has been charged twice with tampering charges, has pleaded not guilty and is free on two $500,000 bonds.
Dulos was not present at the deposition but was allowed to view it by video from his Farmington home. He wasn't allowed to address Troconis during the deposition.
Troconis pleaded the Fifth Amendment to the more than 170 questions that attorney Richard Weinstein asked her in the deposition. Weinstein is representing Gloria Farber, Jennifer's mother, in a civil action against Fotis Dulos and his home building company The Fore Group. The lawsuit alleges that Dulos failed to pay back millions in loans to her husband Hilliard Farber, who has since passed away.
Dulos has argued they were gifts and he doesn't have to pay the money back. The case is scheduled to go to trial as soon as next month.
During the Sept. 25 deposition, Troconis answered only that her name was Michelle Troconis and that she was living in a hotel in Avon at the time. She has since moved into her own home and taken all of her possessions out of the Jefferson Crossing home she shared with Fotis Dulos.
At the end of the deposition a frustrated Weinstein tells Bowman that he is going to "tee this up" with a judge to determine whether or not Troconis was properly invoking her Fifth Amendment rights.
Earlier this week Weinstein filed a motion asking a judge to compel Troconis to answer some of the questions. Even though the deposition is supposed to be sealed he attached the 39-page document to that motion as an exhibit.
Michelle Troconis, girlfriend of Fotis Dulos, refuses to answer all questions in deposition; Attorney asks judge to compel her to talk �
Weinstein has questioned Dulos' finances, saying that he believes a Greek benefactor is covering the cost of Dulos' cast of lawyers for his criminal, civil and family court cases.. He has tried unsuccessfully to subpoena attorney Norm Pattis _ Dulos's criminal attorney, to reveal how he is being paid by his client.
In his questioning of Troconis, Weinstein specifically asks about personal credit card purchases using cards in the name of the Fore Group. He also asked her who paid for trips to such places as Spain, Greece and Vail, Col. that he said the couple has taken in the last few years.
Weinstein doesn't ask her any questions about what she did or where she was on May 24 _ the day Farber Dulos disappeared. He does ask if she has ever met Jennifer.
Farber Dulos was last seen on a neighbors security camera video driving back to her home on Welles Place after dropping the couple's five children off at their private school.
In a 43-page arrest warrant released last month after Dulos and Troconis were charged with tampering with evidence a second time state police allege that Dulos was "lying in wait" for his wife back at her house.
New state police arrest warrant details investigators' theory of Jennifer Farber Dulos' last day as they charge estranged husband, Fotis Dulos �
The arrest affidavit details how state police investigators used a variety of video surveillance systems to chart how they believe Dulos traveled from his Farmington home to Farber Dulos' New Canaan home early on the day she disappeared driving a red Toyota truck that belonged to a Fore group employee _ and later fled the crime scene with the body.
"The crime and clean-up are believed to have occurred between 8:05 a.m. and 10:25 a.m," the warrant said.
Jennifer's white Chevy Suburban is seen leaving Welles Place around 10:25 a.m. and state police theorize that Dulos was driving it.
"Dulos is believed to be operating the victim's vehicle, which is carrying the body of Jennifer Dulos and a number of other items associated with the clean-up which occurred in the garage of the residence," according to the warrant affidavit.
The Suburban was later found on Lapham Road. Despite hundreds of hours of searches from New Canaan to Farmington to a trash plant in Hartford, state police haven't found Farber Dulos' body.
Pattis has criticized the warrant saying that it is filled with speculation and that there are no videos that show Dulos driving the truck as it makes its way from Farmington to New Canaan and back.
According to the timeline laid out by investigators, Tronconis enters the picture on May 24 after the truck returns to a Mountain Spring Road property owned by the Fore Group. She arrives there and tells police she saw Dulos cleaning "a coffee spill" from the front seat of the Toyota truck. But she said when he handed her the stained towels they "didn't smell like coffee,"
Investigators later found Farber Dulos' DNA in a a swatch of fabric taken from a seat in that pickup truck containing a "bloodlike substance," according to the warrant affidavit.
Later on the night of May 24 Troconis was with Dulos when he allegedly drove to Albany Avenue in Hartford and threw away at least two garbage bags filled with bloody items including a shirt that Farber Dulos was wearing earlier that day, police said.
He also is seen on surveillance video disposing of a car mat that matched one missing from Farber Dulos' Suburban and a FedEx package that contained an old license plate that belonged to a car owned by Dulos, the warrant says. Troconis, police say, can be seen in one of the videos sitting in the passengers seat of the black Raptor with the door open as he disposes of the Fedex package right in front of her.
Troconis has been interviewed several times by the state police and has admitted she lied to them initially. She is due in criminal court again on Dec. 6.
In his motion seeking a judge to compel Troconis to answer questions Weinstein said that by not answering even basic questions such as where she was born she is abusing her Fifth Amendment rights.Weinstein argues that because of her relationship with Dulos she is a key witness into how The Fore Group was operated.
"Her testimony is therefore intended to provide evidence as to the conduct of Fotis Dulos and the Fore Group in not maintaining a separate corporate account identity and use of corporate funds," Weinstein wrote.
In a motion filed late Wednesday, Bowman elaborated on why he told Troconis to invoke her Fifth Amendment right to every question. He said that in effect Weinstein was acting as a prosecutor asking questions that will be asked of her in the criminal case.
"Every factor including the duration, nature, scope and depth of the deponent's knowledge of Fotis Dulos could be used against her or could lead to other evidence that might be so used by law enforcement in their pending hindering and tampering prosecutions and continuing investigation," Bwoman said.
"In light of the Hindering charge and the possibility of a conspiracy charge or worse in the future, any defendant subject to such charges and ongoing investigation would have an absolute Fifth Amendment right to deny even knowing the person she is alleged to have assisted or conspired with."
