{"id":64825,"date":"2018-05-05T05:23:41","date_gmt":"2018-05-05T05:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=64825"},"modified":"2018-05-05T05:41:02","modified_gmt":"2018-05-05T05:41:02","slug":"court-vacates-kennedy-cousin-skakels-murder-conviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/court-vacates-kennedy-cousin-skakels-murder-conviction.html","title":{"rendered":"Court vacates Kennedy cousin Skakel’s murder conviction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Court vacates Kennedy cousin Skakel’s murder conviction<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

In a stunning reversal, the Connecticut Supreme Court on Friday overturned Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel\u2019s murder conviction in the 1975 bludgeoning death of a girl in wealthy Greenwich.<\/span><\/p>\n

The high court issued a 4-3 ruling that Skakel\u2019s trial attorney failed to present evidence of an alibi. The same court in December 2016 had reinstated Skakel\u2019s conviction after a lower court ordered a new trial, citing mistakes by the trial attorney, Mickey Sherman.<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t immediately clear if prosecutors will subject Skakel to a new trial. A spokesman for Chief State\u2019s Attorney Kevin Kane said prosecutors were reviewing the new ruling. He declined further comment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Skakel, a nephew of Robert F. Kennedy\u2019s widow, Ethel Kennedy, was convicted of murder in 2002 in the death of Martha Moxley in 1975 when they were teenagers. He was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison, but was freed on $1.2 million bail after serving 11 years behind bars when the lower court overturned his murder conviction in 2013.<\/span><\/p>\n

The case has drawn international attention because of the Kennedy name, Skakel\u2019s rich family, numerous theories about who killed Moxley and the brutal way in which she died. Several other people, including Skakel\u2019s brother Tommy Skakel, have been mentioned as possible killers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The slaying took place in the exclusive Bell Haven section of Greenwich where Martha and Skakel were neighbors. At trial, prosecutors said Skakel was angry with Martha because she had spurned his advances while having a sexual liaison with his brother Tommy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Skakel\u2019s appellate lawyer, Hubert Santos, had asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its 2016 ruling, resulting in Friday\u2019s decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re elated that our argument was vindicated,\u201d Santos said Friday. \u201cIt was a good decision because it was spot on the law.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Santos argued that Sherman made poor decisions, including not focusing on Skakel\u2019s brother as a possible suspect and failing to attempt to contact an alibi witness. Santos said Skakel was several miles away from the crime scene on Oct. 30, 1975 watching a Monty Python movie with friends when Moxley was bludgeoned with a golf club.<\/span><\/p>\n

Santos also has said there was no physical evidence or eyewitnesses linking Skakel to the killing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sherman has defended his work, and state prosecutors have argued he did an adequate job. The Associated Press left a message with him Friday seeking comment on the ruling.<\/span><\/p>\n

Conservative Justice Peter Zarella wrote the majority opinion when the highly divided Supreme Court reinstated Skakel\u2019s conviction in a 4-3 ruling in December 2016. Zarella left the court at the end of 2016 to return to private practice.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Supreme Court ruled Friday, the panel included the same justices that ruled in 2016 \u2014 minus Zarella. It included Justice Gregory D\u2019Auria, a former lawyer in the state attorney general\u2019s office named to the court last year. D\u2019Auria was in the majority decision Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The high court\u2019s reversal of a previous ruling is highly unusual, legal observers said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Writing for the majority Friday, Justice Richard Palmer said Skakel was prejudiced in the case by Sherman\u2019s failure to obtain alibi testimony from witness Denis Ossorio.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWithout Ossorio\u2019s testimony, the state was able to attack the petitioner\u2019s (Skakel\u2019s) alibi \u2014 a complete alibi for the time period during which it is highly likely that the victim was murdered \u2014 as part of a Skakel family conspiracy to cover up the petitioner\u2019s involvement in the victim\u2019s murder,\u201d Palmer wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a dissent, Justice Dennis Eveleigh noted that the exact time of the killing was never established and a medical examiner\u2019s report concluded it likely happened sometime between 9:30 p.m. and 4:30 or 5:30 the next morning.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that the majority fails to consider the well-established rule that, as a matter of law, an alibi defense is no defense at all when it is reasonably possible that the crime was committed outside of the alibi period. That is certainly the case here,\u201d Eveleigh wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moxley\u2019s brother, John Moxley, told the AP that he was disappointed with the ruling and that it was too soon to say what the family would want next in the case.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what the next steps are. My mom is getting older. I just don\u2019t think she has the strength to go on with this,\u201d said Moxley, 59.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said he would not trade places with Skakel for anything.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll be in jail for the rest of his life,\u201d Moxley said. \u201cHe may not be physically in jail. He may be walking the streets, but he\u2019ll be in hell at some point.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Associated Press writer Michael Melia contributed to this report.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national\/new-murder-trial-ordered-for-kennedy-cousin-michael-skakel\/2018\/05\/04\/841380bc-4fd3-11e8-85c1-9326c4511033_story.html?utm_term=.1d382ab2a808<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t <\/div><\/div>\n\t\t