Michelle Troconis has decided not to testify in her trial and the defense has rested its case.
The state decided it would present no rebuttal case, so no additional evidence will be presented. Closing arguments are planned for Tuesday morning.
The case centers around what happened to Jennifer Dulos, a mother of five, who has been missing since May 24, 2019, and is presumed dead. She vanished after dropping her children off at school that morning.
Police believe Jennifer’s estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, attacked and killed her at her New Canaan home.
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Fotis Dulos died by suicide in January 2020, weeks after being charged with murdering Jennifer Dulos. He denied the allegations.
At the time of her disappearance, they were battling each other in contentious divorce and child custody proceedings.
Troconis was dating Fotis Dulos and living with him in Farmington after Jennifer Dulos and the children had moved out.
She denies allegations that she helped Fotis Dulos cover up the killing of Jennifer Dulos.
On Thursday, Professor Elizabeth Loftus, an expert on memory, testified on memory and memory loss.
Prosecutors allege that Troconis lied to investigators during her interviews.
“Memory doesn’t work like a recording device, we don’t just see it and record it,” Loftus said on Thursday.
The defense argued that the science behind memory explains Troconis’ inconsistencies in her interviews with police and the additional details provided as interviews occurred.
“Police introduce information into those interviews that is new info or misinformation and it’s a setting ripe for contamination of memory,” Loftus said.
She testified that the inserting of details by police investigators or presenting of false information by investigators, can create memories a person would later believe to be true.
During cross-examination of Loftus, the state pushed back that Troconis’ memory couldn’t have been impacted by police investigators, because the extra details she continued to provide in interviews weren’t mentioned by police at any point.
Outside court, Troconis’ attorney, Jon Schoenhorn. made clear his reason for bringing in Loftus, “The science as we are presenting here, there is an alternative narrative theory to what the prosecution is trying to claim.”
During cross-examination, Assistant States Attorney Sean McGuinness also cited other examples of details investigators never mentioned including a coffee cup and coffee spill, and intimate moments between her and Fotis.
The state pushed the professor on her credibility and potential sympathy for defendants, citing her extensive testimony and consultation on behalf of defense council, in high profile trials such as OJ Simpson, Timothy McVeigh and Harvey Weinstein, among others.
It's a line of questioning she said she's used to, but she believes it’s unfounded.
“I think it is kind of an unfair thing to try to link the current accused, Michelle, with these people who are unpopular,” Loftus said.
