Lawyers for the state and Michelle Troconis were back in Superior Court in Stamford ahead of Troconis’ full trial. They are attempting to re-fill the alternate juror pool that has slowly dwindled as jurors have been excused for various personal reasons.
The trial was set to start Monday, Jan. 8, but had to be delayed to call in more jurors. Four had been dismissed since their initial selection began back in October of 2023. Two more were selected on Tuesday, with only two left to fill.
“I would think it’s practically inevitable,” said William Dunlap, a criminal law professor at Quinnipiac University, referencing the loss of jurors.
He said the loss of jurors is the risk you take when a trial needs to be delayed following selection. In this case, the trial was delayed because of suppression hearings for potential evidence the defense had filed, including suppression hearings for interrogations of Troconis following her arrest, and her cell phone that was taken when she was arrested.
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“They [jurors] could get sick, any number of things could come up, so I doubt this was a surprise to anybody,” Dunlap said.
Potential jurors called Tuesday were told to review an extensive list of witnesses and people involved in the Jennifer Dulos disappearance case, to ensure they are not connected to anyone involved with the case.
They also answered questions including, do you regularly follow media reports about the case and can you avoid media reports for the duration of the trial? Have you posted about the case? And have you formed an opinion about the defendant?
Dunlap said it would be a massive challenge to find people who have never heard of the case, but that isn’t necessarily what the court is looking for.
“What they are looking for are people that will base their decision on the evidence, the testimony, the instructions that are given at trial and are willing to put aside things they may have read in the paper before they were ever on the jury,” Dunlap said.
Another challenge that was highlighted in jury selection Tuesday was the potential trial length. The overestimate on length takes the trial to March 1. Many potential jurors hesitated when they heard the potential end date because of work conflicts.
Connecticut law only requires the first five days of jury service be covered by an employer.
“It creates a problem, there are going to be a lot of people in jobs where they simply cannot be away from it that long,” Dunlap said.
On Wednesday, the court will attempt to fill the final two jury vacancies. The judge raised a single concern about the quick turnaround on any jurors selected Wednesday, because of the trials start date of Thursday, Jan. 11.
The trial is still set to begin Thursday.
