During the 11 years he’s been in prison, Skakel’s parents and other members of the Kennedy family have spent millions of dollars to have his conviction overturned
Michael Skakel, who has spent 11 years in prison for the 1975 murder of 15-year-old Martha Moxley, has now been released on $1.2 million bail. His release comes after Rockville, Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Bishop ordered a new trial for Skakel last month, ruling that he did not receive a fair trial because his lawyer, Mickey Sherman, had not represented him effectively, thereby depriving him of his constitutionally guaranteed right to counsel.
Skakel’s parents and other members of the Kennedy family have spent millions of dollars on lawyers, numerous appeals, investigations, expert witnesses, etc., in their efforts to get his conviction overturned.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., swears that Skakel, his cousin, did not kill Martha Moxley. Kennedy insists there are five eyewitnesses who can testify that Skakel was 11 miles away from the crime scene at the time of the murder. He says that if his cousin had murdered Moxley, he would have admitted it. To hear RFK Jr. and other family members tell it, the prosecutors should have been locked up, not this fine upstanding gentle soul who is caring, generous and committed to his faith, family and friends. Yeah right, tell that to Dorthy Moxley, the mother of the young girl Skakel was convicted of clubbing to death.
What’s interesting about this case is that Mark Fuhrman, the disgraced former LAPD detective turned author, went to Greenwich where, some 20 years after her death, he investigated and solved the murder of Martha Moxley, a case the local and state authorities either couldn’t or wouldn’t solve. Fuhrman, who found the infamous glove in the O. J. Simpson murder case, then wrote a book about his investigation - Murder in Greenwich (1998, ISBN 0060191414) – which forced the local authorities to reopen their investigation.
Court records show that Skakel’s family spent more than $2 million for his defense before and during the murder trial. Skakel had the best criminal attorney money could buy. For a judge to now say that Sherman did not give Skakel an adequate defense seems awful ludicrous to me. I wonder if Judge Bishop could be beholden to the Kennedys?
As for a new trial, it will be extremely difficult for the prosecution to retry this case after all these years. The prosecution is appealing Judge Bishop’s ruling. If the ruling is upheld, don’t hold your breath while waiting for a new trial.
1 comment:
Kennedy money bought the 1960 election by arranging for every cemetery in Dallas and Chicago to vote. They bought off the family of Mary Jo on Teddy's non-swimming Buick incident. No reason why they shouldn't buy off a murder beef.
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