Just as court was ending for the day Thursday in the trial of Michelle Troconis, state prosecutors raised concerns to the judge, outside the presence of the jury, about the possibility that part of a sealed report was displayed on Troconis’ laptop.
This is the same report the jury heard limited testimony about Thursday. It is a custody report completed and shown to Fotis and Jennifer Dulos the month before Jennifer disappeared. It is sealed, according to prior testimony, because it contains confidential health information and information about the five Dulos children.
The state asserted to the judge at the end of the day that the report itself remains under seal, and no one is supposed to have access to it, including the defendant. It was someone in the gallery of the courtroom, that sits directly behind the defense and prosecution tables that raised the concern to the state.
The judge tasked the state's attorney's office with learning more about what the person in the gallery saw and how the person in the gallery recognized the report if they too are not supposed to have seen it.
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"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. That is concerning. The second major point is that was displayed for the public with a news camera behind us and she shouldn't even have read it to begin with," assistant state's attorney Michelle Manning told the judge.
Friday, based on what is learned the judge will make a decision if a contempt hearing is necessary.
Earlier in the day, the state called guardian ad litem Michael Meehan to the stand. His role as appointed guardian ad litem 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.
“On that day Mr. Dulos was down, he was concerned, he was upset,” described Meehan.
This was Fotis Dulos’ reaction according to Meehan, following a custody ruling that barred Michelle Troconis from having contact with the children, and he claimed was impacting his and Troconis’ relationship.
Meehan then referenced a phone call he had with Fotis Dulos and Michelle Troconis in March of 2019.
“He was concerned the continued litigation would have an adverse impact on his relationship with Ms. Troconis,” he explained.
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 but he was also upset and outraged.” explained Meehan.
Prosecutors used this testimony to take aim at the heart of the defense. They offered in prior days of the trial, 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 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 were deemed inadmissible by the judge. The court tightened the reigns around testimony from Meehan per a ruling by the judge Wednesday, that kept the contents of the report out of testimony.
The jury also saw new surveillance video submitted to police by a neighbor of Fotis Dulos in Farmington where the red Toyota Tacoma and a GMC Yukon are seen leaving the Dulos home, the morning the Tacoma was detailed.
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. The records confirmed what had been learned in prior testimony, including Michelle Troconis traveling to Albany Avenue in Farmington with Fotis Dulos the night Jennifer disappeared, and her trip to have the Tacoma detailed in Avon with Fotis.
