Prosecution withdraws appeal of ruling to vacate 1 of Michelle Troconis charges at sentencing
A jury convicted Troconis on six felony counts, including two counts of conspiracy to commit evidence tampering.
The state of Connecticut has withdrawn its appeal of trial judge Kevin Randolph’s ruling at Michelle Troconis’ sentencing to vacate one of her two counts of conspiracy to commit evidence tampering.
On March 1, 2024, the jury convicted Troconis on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, two counts of evidence tampering, two counts of conspiracy to commit evidence tampering and hindering prosecution in connection to Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance and presumed death in May 2019.
In a post-verdict motion and hearing, Troconis’ attorney Jon Schoenhorn argued that the two counts of conspiracy violated double jeopardy laws, which prohibit anyone from being prosecuted twice for the same crime. Each count pertained to a separate alleged tampering event in different towns on different days.
But Schoenhorn said the prosecution claimed the conspiracy in both was the same—to destroy evidence of Jennifer Dulos' presumed murder.
Randolph ruled in the defense's favor and vacated one of the counts, meaning Troconis was sentenced on five felony charges rather than six.
One thing to note—that did not affect the number of years she received since Randolph had the sentences on each charge run concurrently for a total of 14.5 years in prison.
Meanwhile, Troconis is appealing her convictions. Per court records, her appeal brief had been due this month, but the court granted an extension with a new deadline set for Aug. 11.
