Michelle Troconis files petition for release, claims constitutional violations

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Michelle Troconis, who was convicted in the disappearance and presumed death of Jennifer Dulos, has filed a habeas corpus petition, which claims her constitutional rights were violated during the Jennifer Dulos investigation in 2019. The filing calls for release and the judgements against her to be vacated. Troconis has been at York Correctional Institution since March 1, when a jury found her guilty of conspiring with her then-boyfriend, Fotis Dulos, to kill his estranged wife and helping him hide the crime. Judge Kevin Randolph sentenced Troconis to 14 ½ years in prison. The habeas petition targets her initial attorney, Andrew Bowman, and then-Stamford State's Attorney Richard Colangelo. Bowman was Troconis' lawyer when she spoke to police three times, interviews that were used against her at trial. The filing accuses Bowman of “incompetent counsel,” something her second attorney Jon Schoenhorn previously brought up to reporters. It also says, if not for Bowman’s deficient performance, “the outcome of the criminal trial against the petitioner would have been different and more favorable to the petitioner.” The petition also claims Colango failed to honor an agreement in exchange for her cooperation. In the filing, Troconis says she spoke with police because Colangelo said the state was only interested in her as a witness against Fotis Dulos, and she believed she'd be given immunity. When Fotis Dulos died by suicide, Colangelo reneged on the deal, according to the petition. MORE: Read the report: "