The trial of Michelle Troconis hit a snag on Wednesday afternoon.
After the lunch recess, prosecutors made the judge aware that there had been an interaction between lawyers for the state and one of the alternate jurors in the case.
According to the attorney, they attempted to get onto an elevator and noticed two alternate jurors were on the elevator with a judicial marshal. When they saw the jurors in the elevator, they turned around and walked away. At that point, one of the alternate jurors said "We love you" in a comment directed at assistant state's attorney Elizabeth Moran, according to prosecutors and the judicial marshal who was in the elevator.
The judge paused the proceeding to bring in the alternate juror and question that individual about the interaction. That questioning was done outside the view of the cameras in the courtroom.
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The judge then dismissed the alternate juror. There are still four alternate jurors remaining.
The disruption came as the nanny for Jennifer Dulos' children took the stand for a second day.
Lauren Almeida was the one who called police in May 2019, on the night Jennifer disappeared.
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On Wednesday, she was asked by prosecutors about interactions she witnessed between Jennifer and Fotis Dulos as the couple's marriage was falling apart.
She had a lengthy interview with investigators and some of it was used to write up arrest warrants for Jennifer’s estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, and his girlfriend at the time, Michelle Troconis.
Fotis Dulos was charged with felony murder, murder and kidnapping.
He maintained his innocence and died in January 2020, days after attempting suicide at his Farmington home. A judge later agreed to nolle the murder charge.
Troconis has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with physical evidence, hindering prosecution and additional charges. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges and her trail started on Jan. 11.
On Tuesday, Almeida’s testified to her time with the Dulos family before Jennifer and Fotis started to go through a divorce as well as her time working for Fotis’ company, Fore Group, and taking care of the couple's five children.
Before the end of the day, prosecutors began digging into her understanding of the dynamic between Fotis and Jennifer Dulos before Jennifer found out about an affair he was having.
“She just felt like arguing with Fotis, like he was harsh and she didn’t like conflict so she could never really express how she really felt because it kind of got looked over,” Almeida said.
Just before the end of testimony for the day, Almeida identified Troconis in the courtroom, saying she met her on a trip with Fotis and the children.
But Troconis’ attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, contested the testimony, arguing there was no value in her testimony regarding the relationship and divorce of Jennifer and Fotis Dulos and it would be nothing but hearsay, and shouldn’t be allowed.
“You try and drag my client into this you’ve now gone so far off the playing field, we’re out of the stadium, we’re not even in the parking lot or down the street by the highway exit,” Schoenhorn said.
That testimony is expected to take center stage in court Wednesday.
Read more about the timeline here.
Watch full episodes of "Inside the trial of Michelle Troconis"
How to watch the trial
Our daily special, airing weekdays at 9 a.m. on the NBC Connecticut free streaming channel is available on Roku, Samsung TV plus, Freevee, and a number of other platforms. Here is more on how to watch.
