Supreme Court wants to dismiss gag order appeal in Jennifer Dulos case

Senior Assistant State's Attorney Robert Scheinblum, left, consults with State's Attorney Richard Colangelo during arguments in front of the Connecticut State Supreme Court over the gag order imposed in the Fotis Dulos case in Hartford, Conn. on Thursday, December 12, 2019. less Senior Assistant State's Attorney Robert Scheinblum, left, consults with State's Attorney Richard Colangelo during arguments in front of the Connecticut State Supreme Court over the gag order imposed in the ... more Photo: Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Photo: Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 213 Caption Close Supreme Court wants to dismiss gag order appeal in Jennifer Dulos case 1 / 213 Back to Gallery

Attorneys have one week to file written arguments to the state Supreme Court on why justices should provide a ruling on the gag order appeal now that Fotis Dulos had died.

Defense attorney Norm Pattis filed an appeal in October, seeking a state Supreme Court ruling on the gag order imposed by Stamford Superior Court Judge John Blawie in the criminal cases against his client.

The order has banned police, attorneys and witnesses involved in the investigation into the death and disappearance of Jennifer Dulos from speaking publicly about the case. Pattis argued the order prohibited him from adequately defending his client from the charges filed against him.

The case was argued before the state Supreme Court in December — about three weeks before Fotis Dulos was charged with the murder of his estranged wife.

As he faced murder, felony murder, first-degree kidnapping, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution charges, Fotis Dulos died from an apparent suicide on Jan. 30.

In a brief order filed Tuesday, the state Supreme Court is asking attorneys involved in the appeal, including Pattis and Robert Schienblum, who represented the chief state’s attorney’s appellate unit, to file a memo not to exceed five pages “addressing why the appeal should not be dismissed because the defendant has died.”

The attorneys have until Feb. 25 to file the memoranda.

“The issue is far from moot,” Pattis said Wednesday. “In fact, one could argue the gag order increased Mr. Dulos’ sense of despair.”

The chief state’s attorney’s appellate unit went along with the appeal in the hopes that the justices would set precedent for future gag orders, which are rare in Connecticut criminal courts.

“Our appellate courts have yet to address the appropriate legal standard for imposing a gag order; accordingly, hearing this appeal would provide guidance to the trial bench on the law that applies,” Scheinblum wrote in court documents filed last year.

Scheinblum, however, argued against lifting the order in a brief filed with the high court and during oral arguments in December.

Pattis argued that his client’s right to a fair trial was being impeded since he was not able to present his defense tactics to the public or respond to comments on evidence from reporters.

Pattis contended that the order favored Richard Colangelo, the lead prosecutor in the case, since arrest warrants detailing police beliefs of how the disappearance and death occurred were public documents.

Colangelo sought the gag order in September after Pattis floated theories to the media that Jennifer Dulos may have disappeared like the main character in the novel “Gone Girl,” to get back at her estranged husband as the two were involved in an acrimonious two-year divorce.

Blawie wrote in his order that “pervasive information or misinformation in the social media age” could prevent a fair trial in this type of high-profile case.

The disappearance of Jennifer Dulos and the subsequent charges levied against Fotis Dulos and his former girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, have drawn international media interest.

The 35-page warrant for his arrest on murder charges details the exhaustive investigation into the disappearance and likely death of Jennifer Dulos at the hands of her estranged husband. Police believe Fotis Dulos drove an employee’s pickup truck to New Canaan the morning of May 24 and left the vehicle at a park near the home Jennifer Dulos had rented after leaving her husband in 2017, the warrants state.

Evidence listed in the warrant suggests that Fotis Dulos rode a bicycle to her house and was “lying in wait” when she arrived home after dropping off their children at school. He also used “zip ties,” which were later found stained with her blood, according to arrest warrants. Jennifer Dulos suffered injuries that the state’s Chief Medical Examiner James Gill called “non-survivable” without medical intervention.

Gill’s conclusions were based on blood splatter found in her garage and bloodstained items found a week later in trash bags that Fotis Dulos and Troconis had dumped along a busy street in Hartford that night, the warrants state.

The body of Jennifer Dulos has not been found. The arrest warrants served Jan. 7 on Fotis Dulos, Troconis and attorney Kent Mawhinney, a longtime friend, were the first time police publicly indicated that they believe Jennifer Dulos is dead.