ExFotis lawyer does not want to testify
HARTFORD — A lawyer who used to represent Fotis Dulos has asked a judge to quash a subpoena calling on him to testify in a civil lawsuit filed by his former client’s motherinlaw and he’s seeking more time to turn over financial documents.
The lawsuit, filed by Gloria Farber, the mother of missing New Canaan mother Jennifer Dulos, who disappeared May 24, contends that Fotis Dulos owes her and the estate of her late husband, Hilliard, $2.5 million in loans for his highend real estate development company, Fore Group.
David Markowitz, a lawyer who used to represent Fotis Dulos and the company, has asked a judge to set aside a subpoena seeking his testimony in a deposition as well as records from the company.
Markowitz and his partner, Kent Mawhinney, withdrew their representation of Fotis Dulos in the days after he was charged in his estranged wife’s disappearance.
Mawhinney has been involved in a contentious divorce of his own, charged with spousal rape and accused of using Fotis Dulos to violate a protective order by having him contact his wife on his behalf.
Markowitz’s court filing said Farber is seeking copies of all construction or closing files within five years on homes sold by the Fore group, including evidence of the cost of construction, vendor bills and invoices, and canceled checks.
Markowitz said he is changing his legal practice affiliation and office location, “making locating and creating the copies responsive to the subpoena impossible in the time available.”
Once he does find all the documents, they will need to be reviewed to see if anything contained in them would be covered by attorneyclient privilege, he said.
“These facts provide the good faith basis for the court to issue a protective order that any subpoena requesting production of documents allow the deponent no less than 60 days to comply,” Markowitz said.
A hearing is scheduled for Friday in Hartford civil court on several other motions filed in the case.
Farber’s attorney, Richard Weinstein, is seeking a $3 million prejudgment remedy in the lawsuits that would require the assets of the Fore Group to be attached to ensure his client receives the money if she wins the cases.
Fotis Dulos’ attorney, William Murray, has countered by asking a judge to require Farber to post a bond for the amount of any prejudgment remedy to ensure his client retains his business assets if he wins the lawsuits. Murray is claiming Weinstein’s court motions, which include claims of financial wrongdoing by Fotis Dulos, have negatively affected his client’s business.
Fotis Dulos, 52, and his girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, 44, have each pleaded not guilty to tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in the disappearance.
Investigators said they were seen in Hartford the night of the disappearance and a man resembling Fotis Dulos was caught on video dumping bags that were later determined to contain Jennifer Dulos’ blood, according to arrest warrants.
Police believe Jennifer Dulos was the victim of a “serious physical assault” based on evidence found in the garage of her New Canaan home, the warrants state.
The 85yearold Farber has been granted the right to intervene in her daughter’s contentious twoyear divorce and has maintained custody of the couple’s five children since Jennifer Dulos went missing. Farber is now seeking sole legal custody of the children, who are between 8 and 13 years old.
Fotis Dulos’ divorce attorney, Rich Rochlin, filed a motion Thursday asking a judge to require Farber to undergo a psychiatric evaluation as part of the custody proceedings. In response, Farber’s attorney, Anne Dranginis, said her client would agree to the evaluation as long as Fotis Dulos undergoes one as well.
Farber claims her family’s money kept Fotis Dulos’ luxury homebuilding business afloat prior to the couple’s divorce — and that he’s now freeloading off of her by not paying the mortgage on the Farmington home where he resides.
Fotis Dulos is set to return to the Stamford courthouse for his next pretrial hearing on Sept. 13, while Troconis is scheduled to appear on Sept. 20.