The woman convicted in the disappearance and presumed death of Jennifer Dulos will go on trial again - now for the contempt charge she's facing. Michelle Troconis appeared in Stamford Superior Court Wednesday for a hearing in the contempt case, during which Judge Alex Hernadez set a trial date of March 11. Troconis’ attorney, Robert Frost, told the judge he expects it will be a bench trial, but his client wasn’t waiving her right to a jury trial yet.

Troconis is currently serving a 14 ½ year sentence after a jury found her guilty of conspiring with her former boyfriend, Fotis Dulos, to kill his estranged wife and helping him hide the crime. It was a seven-week trial, during which Troconis is accused of displaying a court-sealed report from the Dulos divorce case on her laptop for both the courtroom gallery and anyone watching the feed to see.

In court Wednesday, both sides discussed motions made by the defense, including one for a bill for particulars, requesting specifics on the charges beyond what's in the arrest warrant in order to prepare trial.

“It was not clear to me whether the state was alleging a contempt that was based on mere possession of the sealed custody evaluation report or what seemed to be the thrust of the arrest warrant,” Frost stated, “that Ms. Troconis had put a portion of the report or a page of the report on her laptop in an effort to essentially disseminate it publicly.”

Assistant State's Attorney Elizabeth Moran said the state would be proceeding on both theories—possession of and publicizing the sealed document. A new charging document details that with Troconis now facing two counts of contempt of court.

Frost also requested the court orders that Troconis is accused of violating. Initially, the custody report was sealed in 2019 by Judge Donna Heller, who presided over the Dulos divorce case. But it came up before and during the trial several times with Judge Kevin Randolph reiterating the report would remain sealed despite the defense’s attempts to get it admitted.

Moran said she’d work on getting Frost the dates of every time that occurred.

The judge also granted a motion from Frost to compel the videographer from Troconis’ trial to testify at the upcoming trial. Law & Crime was the media outline assigned as the pool camera, and the videographer lives in Massachusetts.

“This case is going to be about a videographer that was warned a number of times not to be filming defense counsel’s or the state’s computers for that matter,” Frost stated during the hearing. “Because they happened to do something they weren’t supposed to do, and somebody who is aligned with the victim and the victim’s family was upset about it, it then got elevated to a contempt allegation, which is where we are today.”

Moran vehemently disagreed with that characterization.

“The state is not proceeding because this is something that was captured on her laptop during the livestream. The initial witness that prompted this contempt charge was a witness that was seated in the courtroom,” Moran countered. “I just want to be clear that the witness saw it in the courtroom, then additionally we went back and looked at footage, and we also were able to observe it on the livestream.”

Frost also said he was surprised the state was even moving forward with the case against his client after he reviewed the discovery, including screenshots from the Law & Crime feed.

“It was caught for a brief moment in time, and it’s actually partially cropped off by Ms. Troconis’ defense counsel. The state’s theory on the dissemination that all along Ms. Troconis is assuming that this is going to be legible, readable and it’s going to be out in the world simply because she puts it on her laptop, we obviously vehemently dispute that,” Frost said, adding there’s not one person who was able to read it.

Both sides are set to return to court Feb. 19 to check in prior to the trial.

Troconis’ family and friends attended the hearing, but their focus is getting her current convictions vacated. Troconis has been at York Correctional Institution since March 1, when a six-person jury convicted her of conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with physical evidence, conspiracy to tamper with physical evidence and hindering prosecution. In September, she filed a habeas corpus petition, claiming her constitutional rights were violated during the 2019 Jennifer Dulos investigation, primarily by her first attorney, Andrew Bowman, as well as then-Stamford State’s Attorney Richard Colangeo.

Troconis’ family spoke with reporters briefly outside the courthouse Wednesday.

“My daughter's wrongful conviction resulted from a violation of her constitutional rights, ineffective counsel and denial of due process,” stated Carlos Troconis. “The state failed to perform on the agreement in exchange for her cooperation. Another suspect was granted immunity, raising concerns about selective justice and fairness.”

“My sister is innocent, and she's paying the price of the crimes of others. Critical evidence to her defense was excluded from the trial, leading to a misinformed jury and an unjust conviction. What you think you know about my sister Michelle is a fabrication,” said Daniela Troconis.

“Even in incarceration, my sister continues to bring light and her lifelong dedication to serving others by learning Braille to transcribe books for visually impaired children in Connecticut. She remains a caring presence even under difficult circumstances. Her defense team is committed to overturning this injustice and restoring her freedom,” added Marisela Troconis.

Troconis was the first defendant in the Jennifer Dulos case to stand trial. Prosecutors turned their efforts to her after Fotis Dulos died by suicide in January 2020 while facing several felonies in his estranged wife's disappearance including murder and kidnapping. Kent Mawhinney, a friend and former attorney for Fotis Dulos, was also charged with conspiracy to commit murder and is awaiting a trial date.

Jennifer Dulos was last seen the morning of May 24, 2019. At the time, she and Fotis Dulos had been going through a contentious divorce and custody battle for two years. Police believe Fotis Dulos violently attacked Jennifer Dulos in the garage of her home in New Canaan, then disposed of the body. Security cameras in a Hartford neighborhood captured Fotis Dulos dumping black garbage bags later that day which contained Jennifer’s bloody shirt, bra and other evidence. Investigators have not recovered Jennifer Dulos’ body, but a court declared her dead.