Michael Skakel's Murder Conviction Vacated by Connecticut Supreme Court
Today the Connecticut Supreme Court, in a 4-3 vote, vacated Michael Skakel's conviction in the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley. The court cited inadequate counsel as the basis for its decision, which is a reversal of the ruling the court made just 16 months ago when judges voted 4-3 that Skakel's conviction should stand. Many experts believe that it's highly unlikely that prosecutors will retry Skakel.
Martha Moxley was just 15 years old, when on the night of October 30, 1975, she was bludgeoned and stabbed to death. Initially, even though the Greenwich, CT police had a few prime suspects in mind, no arrests were made and the case remained cold for decades. Then, in 1991, during the rape trial of William Kennedy Smith, a rumor surfaced that Smith was at the Skakel house the night of the murder and might have been involved. Although the rumor proved to be untrue it led to a new investigation into the case. Rushton Skakel, father of Michael, hired his own investigators and when their report was leaked to the media, it was revealed that both Michael and his brother Thomas changed their stories about what they were doing on the night of the murder.
Skakel was finally arraigned - in juvenile court because he was 15 years old when the crime was committed - on March 14, 2000 for the murder of Martha Moxley. On January 31 of that same year, a judge ruled that he would be tried as an adult. On June 7, 2002 Skakel was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Since his conviction, Skakel has continued to appeal his case and his cousin, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., wrote a book entitled Framed: Why Michael Skakel Spent over a Decade in Prison for a Murder He Didn't Commit. Today, it looks like those appeals have finally paid off. So far the DA has issued no comment on Connecticut Supreme Court's decision.
Related Reading:
WHO IS MICHAEL SKAKEL? KENNEDY COUSIN'S MURDER CONVICTION VACATED
TRAIL OF GUILT
Dominick Dunne vs. Robert Kennedy
Martha Moxley was just 15 years old, when on the night of October 30, 1975, she was bludgeoned and stabbed to death. Initially, even though the Greenwich, CT police had a few prime suspects in mind, no arrests were made and the case remained cold for decades. Then, in 1991, during the rape trial of William Kennedy Smith, a rumor surfaced that Smith was at the Skakel house the night of the murder and might have been involved. Although the rumor proved to be untrue it led to a new investigation into the case. Rushton Skakel, father of Michael, hired his own investigators and when their report was leaked to the media, it was revealed that both Michael and his brother Thomas changed their stories about what they were doing on the night of the murder.
Skakel was finally arraigned - in juvenile court because he was 15 years old when the crime was committed - on March 14, 2000 for the murder of Martha Moxley. On January 31 of that same year, a judge ruled that he would be tried as an adult. On June 7, 2002 Skakel was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Since his conviction, Skakel has continued to appeal his case and his cousin, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., wrote a book entitled Framed: Why Michael Skakel Spent over a Decade in Prison for a Murder He Didn't Commit. Today, it looks like those appeals have finally paid off. So far the DA has issued no comment on Connecticut Supreme Court's decision.
Related Reading:
WHO IS MICHAEL SKAKEL? KENNEDY COUSIN'S MURDER CONVICTION VACATED
TRAIL OF GUILT
Dominick Dunne vs. Robert Kennedy
Comments
Post a Comment
Comments on this blog will be moderated. Slurs will not be tolerated. Lighthearted humor is welcome but any humor that demeans the victims and the marginalized is not.