Yeah, looks like.........
I love this! LOL!
Posted on 05/07/2002 6:33:12 AM PDT by LurkedLongEnough
(Norwalk-AP, May 7, 2002 6:05 AM) _ After 27 years of mystery, a Kennedy cousin is being tried in the murder of Greenwich teen-ager Martha Moxley.Watch the story from News Channel 8's Jodi Latina Michael Skakel's murder trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday _ an event some long-term observers doubted they would ever see.
"This was such an intractable mystery for so long," said Timothy Dumas, who grew up in Greenwich and wrote a book about the crime.
Now 41, Skakel is accused of beating Moxley to death with a golf club when the defendant and victim were 15-year-old neighbors in 1975. Skakel is the nephew of Ethel Kennedy, widow of the late U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
Skakel has pleaded innocent. The golf club used in the attack was traced to a set owned by Skakel's mother.
More than 60 media organizations from around the country and Canada have signed up to cover the trial, which is expected to last about five weeks. Television cameras will not be allowed in the courtroom.
Dorthy Moxley, the victim's mother, was expected to be the first witness, followed by her son, John. Sheila McGuire, a teen-ager at the time who discovered the body under a tree on the Moxley property, is another early witness.
Prosecutors have more than 40 potential witnesses to call, including some who allege Skakel confessed to the crime when they attended a substance abuse facility with him in Maine in the late 1970s.
Skakel's defense list has about two dozen witnesses, including several from the same treatment facility.
"We're all looking forward to finally resolving this thing," said Michael Sherman, Skakel's defense attorney. "We really are at the light at the end of the tunnel."
Kenneth Littleton, who started his job as a live-in tutor for the Skakel family the day of the murder, is expected to take the stand later in the week. Skakel's lawyers have alleged he confessed to the crime, but Superior Court Judge John F. Kavanewsky Jr. has not yet ruled whether the Littleton statements cited by the defense can be used as evidence.
Skakel's older brother, Thomas, and his father, Rushton Skakel Sr., are expected to testify next week, according to family attorney Emanuel Margolis. Thomas Skakel was an early suspect in the slaying because he was the last person seen with Moxley.
The defense had argued that under laws in effect in 1975, a five-year statute of limitations applied to murder cases, except when those cases could result in the death penalty. Skakel is not charged with a capital crime.If Skakel is not being charged with a capital crime, then I suppose he would get something less than the death penalty. Probation maybe.Prosecutor Jonathan Benedict said Connecticut law was never intended to limit the prosecution of murder. State law was changed in 1976 to eliminate time limits for prosecuting serious felonies, including murder.
Stamford Superior Judge John Kavanewsky agreed, saying the "gravity of the offense charged" is more important than the potential penalty."
Are you going to follow the Skakel trial?
Yes, it's an interesting case. 39%
No, I don't care about it. 61%
We're in the minority, it seems.
Yeah, looks like.........
I love this! LOL!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.