**Breaking** Conviction of Michael Skakel, Kennedy cousin,in 1975 killing has been vacated.

[hlthe2b]

New murder trial ordered for Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel
By: DAVE COLLINS, Associated Press
http://www.krqe.com/news/national/new-murder-trial-ordered-for-kennedy-cousin-michael-skakel/1159926821

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - In a stunning reversal, the Connecticut Supreme Court on Friday vacated Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel's murder conviction and ordered a new trial in connection with a 1975 killing in wealthy Greenwich.

The court issued a 4-3 ruling Friday that Skakel's trial attorney, Michael Sherman, failed to present evidence of an alibi. The decision reversed the high court's previous ruling in December 2016 that reinstated Skakel's conviction after a lower court ordered a new trial, citing mistakes by Sherman.

Skakel, a nephew of Robert F. Kennedy's widow, Ethel Kennedy, was convicted of murder in 2002 in the bludgeoning death of Martha Moxley in their wealthy Greenwich neighborhood 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 the lower court overturned his murder conviction in 2013. --snip--

Santos argued that Sherman made poor decisions, including not focusing on Skakel's 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 watching a Monty Python movie with friends when Moxley was bludgeoned with a golf club.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

1. Well, Mark Furhman just had a sad.

Seeing that he milked his investigation all that he could in order to try and rehabilitate his image after his racial comments came out in the Simpson trial.

[hlthe2b]

3. yup... I never made up my mind on Skakel, but thought there were signficant questions

Robert Kennedy Jr., despite his anti-vax nuttiness, was so convinced of Skakel's innocence that he's fought for him all these years. I found that touching and maybe a bit convincing of the need for another "look"...

So many years have passed, though, it may be impossible to find the truth.

[stevenleser]

5. Same here. Completely unsure if he is guilty or innocent despite reading and watching a lot on this.

There was a documentary that made him look REALLY guilty. Then you read about some evidence the documentary didn't cover that casts some doubt.

Very sad that this girl has been denied justice either way.

[hlthe2b]

11. re: "very sad that this girl has been denied justice either way"--even more so for her 84 yo Mother

It never ends for her...

[Demsrule86]

12. He confessed to it in a mental institution...he confessed to the police as I remember and then took

it back. He is as guilty as sin.

[Demsrule86]

13. The Skakels were nuts...they would drive the cars 100 miles an hour on the Merritt Parkway.

They were always in trouble and ran wild...their parents and aunt (Ethel Kennedy) had been raised the same way according to my Mom and Dad. They were also considered nouveau Riche and were not accepted by the old families.

[underpants]

4. The only person convicted of anything in the whole OJ craptapular

Now he adds his insight on Fox News from a dimly lit home office with the shades drawn. Yes it's hiding that he's in California while the broadcast from NYC...but I think it's also supposed to add credibility.

[RandySF]

2. That's a blast from the past

I remember him going to jail.

[MrScorpio]

6. There's a black man in Louisiana who's in jail of 8 yrs without being convicted of a crime

Link to tweet

When you're white and have money, at least you can get some justice now and then.

[hlthe2b]

7. That is obscene. I would have bet Louisiana before I even read the post.

AL and MS have their own brand of ugliness, but Louisiana has been notorious for this kind of thing for POC.

[MrScorpio]

8. If you think that's bad, check this out...

Here's another black man in Florida who was found not guilty by a jury, no less, but the judge sentence him to prison for seven years anyway:

Black Man Found Not Guilty of Crime, Still Sentenced to 7 Years In Prison

Michael Harriot
5/23/17 2:00pmFiled to: NEWS

In today’s example of how the American justice system treats black bodies, we take a look at Ramad Chatman, a 24-year-old man who was found not guilty by a jury of his peers but will serve seven years in prison because ...

Come on, you know why. Read the first two words of the headline again.

According to The Independent, in 2012 Chatman was convicted of breaking and entering for stealing a television worth $120. It was his first offense, but because he was—again, you know why—Chatman was sentenced to five years’ probation. You read that right. He was 19, and a judge thought it necessary to make him property of the state for half a decade.


https://www.theroot.com/black-man-found-not-guilty-of-crime-still-sentenced-to-1795475956

[hlthe2b]

9. Horrendous....Where is ACLU on this?

Both cases seem absolutely ideal for intervention.

[MrScorpio]

10. Hell, if I know...

But, you know, these are black guys in America's criminal justice system, where injustice is a dime a dozen.

By the way, Wisconsin is getting in on this trend as well:

Man not guilty on gun charges at trial but still sent to prison in Wisconsin

A jury found Damien Payne not guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and of carrying a concealed weapon.

But he was still sent to prison for more than three years.

That’s because Payne, who got out of prison in 2010, was being supervised by the Department of Corrections at the time. As a result, he was subject to a little-known department rule that says it doesn’t matter if ex-offenders on probation or parole are acquitted — they can be sent back to prison based on the same allegations.

Payne, 35, said he didn’t know his girlfriend’s gun was in the glove compartment of his car when he was pulled over in July. The jury believed him. His probation and parole agent didn’t.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Stephanie Rothstein has agreed to review Payne's revocation case and decide whether the department acted “erroneously, arbitrarily, capriciously and contrary to law,” as his attorney, Jessica A. Klein, contends.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/investigations/2017/02/04/man-not-guilty-gun-charges-trial-but-still-sent-prison-wisconsin/97359244/

[Exotica]

15. please make an OP on these cases, it is fucking OUTRAGEOUS

[struggle4progress]

16. Your link indicates he's being held on a parole violation

It's certainly plausible that he's being treated unfairly, but it's not true he's in jail without being convicted of a crime

[GusBob]

14. I thought his alibi was he was up in a tree masturbating

God this case again