Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel poised for freedom for possible retrial in 1975 killing

[Logical]

I always thought this was a questionable conviction and maybe should of been tried in juvenile court since he was 15 at the time. I will be curious how the new trial turns out.

Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel is expected to be released from prison this week while prosecutors appeal a ruling granting him a new trial in the 1975 slaying of neighbor Martha Moxley, the latest dramatic development in a case with an extraordinary history.

Skakel, the 53-year-old nephew of Robert F. Kennedy's widow, Ethel Kennedy, has spent more than 11 years in prison. A bond hearing is scheduled for Thursday in Stamford Superior Court for Skakel, who has been serving 20 years to life and was denied parole last year.

Robert Kennedy Jr., who campaigned to overturn Skakel's conviction, said he felt "pure joy" at the prospect that his cousin was being released. Skakel has only seen his son a handful of times since he was sent to prison, he said.

"Everybody in my family knows that Michael is innocent," Kennedy told The Associated Press. "He was in jail for over a decade for a crime he didn't commit. The only crime that he committed was having a bad lawyer."

more at: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/20/21549753-kennedy-cousin-poised-for-freedom-in-1975-killing?lite

[duffyduff]

1. I hope he walks. He was convicted by media beginning with Dominick Dunne.

There was no evidence at all of his involvement. Dominick Dunne must have felt snubbed by the Kennedy family for some social event, so he decided to focus his anger on a long-forgotten murder case. Then old Mark Fuhrman got on board trying to salvage his own reputation. It didn't matter an innocent man was being accused of something so heinous on such flimsy to non-existent evidence.

[Logical]

2. The Dominick Dunne involvement was a joke and then the convicted felon Mark Fuhrman got involved! nt

[pnwmom]

3. And the obvious suspect -- the gardener living in the basement

with a history of assaulting women -- was a much stronger and larger adult -- as opposed to 120 pound, 15 year old Michael.

[Logical]

4. Interesting, I did not know that. Thanks! n-t

[pnwmom]

5. Have you read this article by RFK, Jr?

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/01/a-miscarriage-of-justice/304759/

This one was especially difficult because of a parade of more than forty potential suspects. Besides Tom Skakel and the other neighbor these included Franz Wittine, a German gardener who lived in the Skakels' basement and liked to boast of how he had raped and beaten girls as a soldier during World War II. Wittine, who gave four different alibis, liked young blondes and was physically powerful. He was notorious for his lascivious advances toward Julie Skakel and her girlfriends, some of whom were too frightened of him to visit the Skakel house. Back steps leading to his room in the basement allowed him to come and go without notice. Shortly after the murder Wittine disappeared for a short time, quitting his job just a few months shy of the twenty years that would have qualified him for a pension from a Skakel-owned company—a choice that dramatically affected his financial position. He died in 2000.

[Logical]

6. Thanks! nt