Michelle Troconis, who's currently serving a 14 ½ -year sentence in the disappearance and presumed death of Jennifer Dulos, returns to Rockville Superior Court on Tuesday for Day 3 of her habeas petition proceedings.

The trial, in which Troconis is seeking to get her conviction vacated based on constitutional grounds, wasn’t initially scheduled to be back in court until Friday, but an extra day was added due to testimony last week going longer than expected.

Troconis is arguing her first attorney in the case, Andrew Bowman, failed to effectively represent her because he allowed her to speak with police without a deal after Jennifer Dulos went missing. Those hours-long interviews, in which Troconis gave inconsistent statements, were used against her during her criminal trial in 2024. A jury found Troconis guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, evidence tampering, conspiracy to commit evidence tampering and hindering prosecution in the disappearance and presumed death of Jennifer Dulos, the estranged wife of Troconis’ former boyfriend, Fotis Dulos.

Jennifer Dulos was last seen dropping her kids off at school in New Canaan on May 24, 2019. Police believe Fotis Dulos killed his wife, then disposed of her body. Jennifer Dulos has never been found but was legally declared dead. Though Fotis Dulos was arrested on several charges including murder and kidnapping, he died by suicide at the end of January 2020.

Tuesday’s proceedings will begin with Michael Fitzpatrick, who’s testifying as an expert witness, back on the stand, being cross-examined by Senior Assistant State's Attorney Russell Zentner. Last Friday, Fitzpatrick, who testified in Michael Skakel's habeas case, called Bowman’s representation of Troconis “not reasonably competent" and “not within the standard of care” when he allowed her to speak to investigators on three separate occasions between June and August 2019 without any formal immunity agreement or protections.

Fitzpatrick said the initial sit-down on June 2 should've never taken place.

"I have four reasons. First of all, she was emotionally distraught, second of all she was exhausted, third it was anticipated that the interview was going to take place in English which is not her primary language, and fourth she was not a good candidate for a police interview," Fitzpatrick testified. "A lawyer's number one duty is to protect the client's legal rights."

Fitzpatrick also testified Bowman failed to adequately prepare Troconis before the interviews and said Bowman should've cut the first interview short and never agreed to a second one.

"The recommendation in each of the three instances did not meet the prevailing professional norms," Fitzpatrick stated.

Bowman spent a day and a half last week defending his actions. He testified that he believed Troconis was innocent and at first, repeatedly told her not to speak with law enforcement because anything she said could be used against her in court.

But Bowman said that changed when he got a call from then-Stamford State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo. Bowman told the court Colangelo said, “We want her cooperation. If she's not going to cooperate, if we find Jennifer’s body, we're going to charge her with accessory to murder.”

Bowman classified the conversation as "a statement of present intention-which I found credible-and it was a threat."

He said he took the message to his client and told her she had a decision to make.

“What I said to her, though, was whatever you do, if you go in there and speak with them, it's got to be the truth. You cannot lie. It has to be the truth, and she said she understood,” Bowman stated. “She was persuasive, so I made a judgement to recommend to her to talk to them, but in the end, it was her decision.”

When asked why he didn’t get a deal for Troconis before she sat down with investigators, Bowman said his more than 50 years of experience have taught him prosecutors don't offer protections without knowing what someone will say.

"They want to know if they can believe this person before they start making promises and giving them, you know, protections," Bowman testified, adding even if Troconis had an agreement, it would've been voided. "There's a carrot and a stick here. And the carrot is we go to bat for you—it could be the amelioration of the punishment, it could be dropping charges, it could be not bringing charges—but in return you've got to tell the truth," Bowman testified.

Initially, Troconis gave Fotis Dulos a false alibi, saying he was home with her in Farmington when Jennifer Dulos vanished.

Bowman testified he agreed to subsequent interviews to help rehabilitate Troconis' credibility and further establish her innocence. He said he expected Troconis to become a cooperating witness for the state but that all changed with Fotis Dulos' suicide. Bowman called it “devastating” to Troconis’ legal position.

The initial prosecutor on the case, Richard Colangelo, was also called as a witness last Friday. Colangelo confirmed Bowman’s recollection of their phone call. He also testified he had no intention of offering protections to Troconis before she talked but left the door open to what might’ve happened if Fotis Dulos hadn’t died.

"It was always my idea up until the time Mr. Dulos passed away, I was trying to figure out a way to use her as a witness against him," Colangelo stated.