Free Republic

Michael Skakel — the Kennedy cousin who spent more than a decade in prison for the 1975 murder of his teenage Connecticut neighbor before he was sprung on procedural grounds — is suing the town of Greenwich and its lead police investigator over claims he was locked behind bars in a targeted attack. The lawsuit claims investigators pinned the slaying on Skakel for their own personal and financial gain. Skakel, a nephew of Robert F. Kennedy’s widow, Ethel Kennedy, was convicted of 15-year-old Martha Moxley’s murder in 2002 and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison, but was released...

September 27 - October 3, 2002 Separate and Unequal On the Mideast controversy, Georgia Democrat Cynthia McKinney and our own Dana Rohrabacher are virtually identical. So why’d the media roast McKinney and let Dana walk? by R. Scott Moxley At a casual glance, Congress members Cynthia McKinney and Dana Rohrabacher have nothing in common. McKinney is a 47-year-old liberal, black Democrat from rural Georgia. She wears her hair in cornrows, enjoys hip-hop and talks about the federal government’s neglect of the underclass. Rohrabacher, 55, is a conservative, pale-skinned Republican from coastal Huntington Beach. He barely has hair, sings folk...

Convicted celebrity murderer Michael C. Skakel says he has uncovered secret evidence suggesting his innocence and is using it to support an unusual effort in federal court to obtain release from prison while his appeals proceed through a variety of courts. In a federal motion filed late Thursday, Skakel's lawyers say state prosecutors improperly concealed two pieces of exculpatory evidence during his trial in the murder of Martha Moxley — an interview that discredits the star prosecution witness and police reports suggesting that a 15-year-old Greenwich boy, later convicted of another murder, had information concerning Moxley's death. Skakel was 15...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel is going back to court this week in a bid for a new murder trial, adding yet another twist to a case that has spawned decades of intrigue. Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, is serving 20 years to life in prison after he was convicted in 2002 of bludgeoning Martha Moxley to death with a golf club in their wealthy Greenwich neighborhood when they were 15. Skakel, 47, is seeking a new trial based on a claim by one-time schoolmate Gitano ``Tony'' Bryant implicating two of his friends in Moxley's...

A former U.S. solicitor general will help Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel appeal his murder conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying Monday the case will focus on when the charges were filed. Theodore B. Olson has argued 43 cases before the nation's highest court, including representing George W. Bush in the disputed presidential race of 2000. Skakel, 45, is serving a sentence of 20 years to life for his 2002 conviction in the 1975 beating death of his Greenwich neighbor, Martha Moxley, when the two were teenagers. Skakel appealed his conviction to the Connecticut Supreme Court last year, arguing among...

Stamford — Prosecutors who won a murder conviction against Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel want his attorneys to identify two men implicated in the murder by a cousin of basketball star Kobe Bryant. Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, is seeking a new trial based on a claim by Gitano “Tony” Bryant that two of his friends killed Martha Moxley in 1975. Prosecutors are seeking the identity and whereabouts of the two men, identified only as “A” and “B” in court papers, so they can respond to the claim and prepare their case. “Moreover, it is against the interests of justice...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The 1975 murder of Martha Moxley set in motion more than a quarter century of grief and intrigue as the attractive teen's family waited for justice while two Kennedy cousins lived under a cloud of suspicion. The long delay in an arrest fueled suspicions of a powerful cover-up in a wealthy Connecticut town. Authorities ultimately charged one of the cousins, Michael Skakel, with bludgeoning Moxley with a golf club and accused his wealthy family of a cover-up to thwart his prosecution during a trial that led to his conviction in 2002. Now Skakel says he should...

Three weeks before the Oct. 7 gubernatorial recall election, state Senator Tom McClintock stood outside the Irvine Transportation Center and told reporters why he should replace Governor Gray Davis. Standing at a makeshift podium, his demeanor seemed, if possible, simultaneously nonchalant and stiff. He looked—there’s no other way to put it—comfortable being uncomfortable. He makes bargain-shoe salesmen look charismatic. His words, though passionate, weren’t memorable, which isn’t really a problem: if you’ve watched any five-minute McClintock interview in the past year, you’ve likely heard everything he has to say. Yes, you were probably startled by his intense, cockeyed stare; encyclopedic...

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Attorneys for Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel have been granted more time to file a legal brief appealing his murder conviction before the state Supreme Court. Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, was convicted one year ago of beating Martha Moxley to death with a golf club in 1975 when they were 15-year-old neighbors in wealthy Greenwich. Skakel, 42, was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. His attorneys were granted extension Thursday until Aug. 4 to file a legal brief detailing their arguments for challenging the conviction. The deadline had been June 27. Defense attorneys...

<p>In his first public statement on the issue, U.S. Sen.-elect Lamar Alexander said yesterday that racially divisive comments made by Sen. Trent Lott were offensive to the core values of most Americans, but that it was time to move on.</p>

<p>November 16, 2002 -- STEVE Skakel was amused, puzzled and, yes, outraged when he saw his brother's life on television last night in a movie called "Murder In Greenwich" - based on the book by former LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman.</p>

<p>August 30, 2002 -- IT WAS an eerie experience that so often occurs in the intense climate of crime and punishment.</p> <p>Michael Skakel, minutes before his sentencing, said to me: "Don't forget about me. Don't forget about me.</p> <p>"I won't forget about you."</p>

MICHAEL (KENNEDY) SKAKEL GETS MAXIMUM SENTENCE-20 YEARS TO LIFE

With Friday's conviction for the first-degree murder of Martha Moxley, how many women have the Kennedys killed, harmed or maimed? Let's count: Back in July of 1969 Sen. Teddy Kennedy drove a car off a bridge, killing 'Boiler Room Girl' Mary Jo Kopechne. By his own admission, he caused her death. So, that is One Woman Dead. Then, four years ago, John F. Kennedy Jr. flew his airplane into the Atlantic Ocean off Nantucket, killing his wife and sister-in-law. The Kennedy family has admitted his negligence by settling a multimillion-dollar 'wrongful death' lawsuit threatened by the Bessette family. According to...

<p>June 9, 2002 -- MICHAEL Skakel's family and their lawyers abandoned him. They threw him away. They didn't have compassion or love for the convicted killer of Martha Moxley. He was just someone who could tarnish the family name.</p> <p>They victimized Michael, and in doing so, they created most of the evidence that convicted him.</p>

<p>NORWALK, Connecticut (CNN) -- A jury on Friday found Michael Skakel guilty of killing 15-year-old Martha Moxley 27 years ago. The defense vowed an immediate appeal. Sentencing will be held July 19. Skakel could be sentenced up to life in prison.</p>

The jury in the Skakel murder trial has reached a verdict and have begun assembling. Nothing announced yet.

The defense begins today in the Skakel trial and I never heard any mention of tangible evidence pointing to Skakel. Do they only have the hearsay testimony of other drug-abusing kids? I thought there was new DNA evidence or something more concrete which convinced the prosecution to try him at this late date. If it's he-said-she-said, it looks like another Kennedy clan member is going to get off the hook. In other words, where's the beef in this case?

Skakel Alibi Is Cast In Doubt Witness Says Defendant Was At Home Near Time Of Killing May 10, 2002 By LYNNE TUOHY, Courant Staff Writer NORWALK -- A witness's harrowing tale of a barking dog frozen in place with fear made a compelling case Thursday for pinpointing when Martha Moxley was killed. It matched up with the narrow time frame that lawyers for Michael Skakel very much want the jury to embrace, to bolster Skakel's alibi that he was miles from his home when his 15-year-old friend was bludgeoned to death. Then, with the kind of dramatic turn that trials...