Kennedy Cousin Denied New Murder Trial

Connecticut Supreme Court rejects Michael Skakel's new argument
By Marie Morris,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 12, 2010 4:46 PM CDT
Kennedy Cousin Denied New Murder Trial
Michael Skakel weeps as an acquaintance from reformatory school takes the stand during his appeal of his 2002 conviction in the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley, April 24, 2007, in Stamford, Conn.   (AP Photo/Douglas Healey, Pool)

The Connecticut supreme court has again upheld Michael Skakel's 2002 murder conviction in the 1975 killing of the Kennedy cousin's neighbor. Skakel, 49, is serving 20 years to life for beating 15-year-old Martha Moxley to death with a golf club. The state's high court also upheld his conviction in 2006, and the US Supreme Court declined to get involved, the Hartford Courant reports.

This time around, lawyers for Skakel, who is Ethel Kennedy's nephew, argued that new evidence implicating others would justify ordering a new trial. In a ruling issued today, the court sided with the state, ruling that although testimony from a new witness purports to exonerate Skakel, "there is a plethora of evidence to contradict his account," reports the New York Times.
(More Kennedy family stories.)

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