Kennedy cousin Skakel to seek release on bond

AAA  Oct. 24, 2013 9:36 AM ET
Kennedy cousin Skakel to seek release on bond
By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN and DAVE COLLINSBy JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN and DAVE COLLINS, Associated Press  

FILE - In a Friday, April 26, 2013 file photo, Michael Skakel, right, talks to Jessica Santos, one of his defense attorneys, during his appeal at State Superior Court in Vernon, Conn. On Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, Skakel's conviction in the death of Moxley was set aside and new trial ordered by a Connecticut judge, Thomas Bishop, who ruled that Sherman failed to adequately represent him when he was found guilty in 2002. Skakel's current attorney, Hubert Santos, said he expects to file a motion for bail on Thursday. If a judge approves it, Skakel could then post bond and be released from prison. (AP Photo/The Stamford Advocate, Jason Rearick, Pool, File)

FILE - In a Friday, April 26, 2013 file photo, Michael Skakel, right, talks to Jessica Santos, one of his defense attorneys, during his appeal at State Superior Court in Vernon, Conn. On Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, Skakel's conviction in the death of Moxley was set aside and new trial ordered by a Connecticut judge, Thomas Bishop, who ruled that Sherman failed to adequately represent him when he was found guilty in 2002. Skakel's current attorney, Hubert Santos, said he expects to file a motion for bail on Thursday. If a judge approves it, Skakel could then post bond and be released from prison. (AP Photo/The Stamford Advocate, Jason Rearick, Pool, File)

FILE - Martha Moxley, shown at age 14 in this 1974 file photo, was murdered on Oct. 30, 1975. Michael Skakel's conviction in the death of Moxley was set aside and new trial ordered Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013 by a Connecticut judge, Thomas Bishop, who ruled that Skakel's trial attorney failed to adequately represent him when he was found guilty in 2002. Skakel's current attorney, Hubert Santos, said he expects to file a motion for bail on Thursday. If a judge approves it, Skakel could then post bond and be released from prison. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In a Thursday, April 18, 2013 file photo, former Michael Skakel defense attorney Michael Sherman testifies at Michael Skakel's habeas corpus hearing at State Superior Court in Rockville, Conn. On Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, Skakel's conviction in the death of Moxley was set aside and new trial ordered by a Connecticut judge, Thomas Bishop, who ruled that Sherman failed to adequately represent him when he was found guilty in 2002. Skakel's current attorney, Hubert Santos, said he expects to file a motion for bail on Thursday. If a judge approves it, Skakel could then post bond and be released from prison. (AP Photo/Stamford Advocate, Jason Rearick, Pool, File)

In a Wednesday June 5, 2002 file photo, Thomas Skakel, stands outside the court in Norwalk Conn., during a coffe break for the jury deliberation phase of his brother Michael Skakel's trial for the October 1975 murder of Martha Moxley. On Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, Michael Skakel's conviction in the death of Moxley was set aside and new trial ordered by a Connecticut judge, Thomas Bishop, who ruled that Skakel's defense attorney failed to adequately represent him when he was found guilty in 2002. Among other issues, the judge wrote that the defense could have focused more on Thomas Skakel, who was an early suspect in the case because he was the last person seen with Martha Moxley. Had Sherman done so, "there is a reasonable probability that the outcome of the trial would have been different," the judge wrote. (AP Photo/Douglas Healey, File)

FILE - In this April 30, 2013 file photo, Michael Skakel leaves the courtroom after the conclusion of trial regarding his legal representation at State Superior Court in Vernon, Conn. A Connecticut judge on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, granted a new trial for Skakel, ruling his attorney failed to adequately represent him when he was convicted in 2002 of killing his neighbor in 1975. (AP Photo/The Greenwich Time, Jason Rearick, Pool, File)

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — With a new trial ordered for Michael Skakel, a defense lawyer for the Kennedy cousin serving time in the 1975 slaying of a neighbor said he will seek his release from prison on bond.

Skakel's conviction was set aside Wednesday by a Connecticut judge, Thomas Bishop, who ruled that Skakel's trial attorney failed to adequately represent him when he was found guilty in 2002. Bridgeport State's Attorney John Smriga said prosecutors will appeal the decision.

Skakel's current attorney, Hubert Santos, said he expects to file a motion for bail on Thursday. If a judge approves it, Skakel could then post bond and be released from prison.

"We're very, very thrilled," Santos said. "I always felt that Michael was innocent."

Skakel argued that his trial attorney, Michael Sherman, was negligent in defending him when he was convicted in the golf club bludgeoning of Martha Moxley when they were 15 in wealthy Greenwich.

Prosecutors contended Sherman's efforts far exceeded standards and that the verdict was based on compelling evidence against Skakel.

John Moxley, the victim's brother, said the ruling took him and his family by surprise and they hope the state wins an appeal.

"Having been in the courtroom during the trial, there were a lot of things that Mickey Sherman did very cleverly," Moxley said. "But the evidence was against him. And when the evidence is against you, there's almost nothing you can do."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a cousin of Skakel's who has long insisted Skakel did not commit the crime, said on NBC's "Today" show on Thursday that the ruling was correct.

"His one crime was that he had a very, very poor representation," he said. "If he gets another trial, he's got good lawyers now and there's no way in the world that he will be convicted."

In his ruling, the judge wrote that defense in such a case requires attention to detail, an energetic investigation and a coherent plan of defense.

"Trial counsel's failures in each of these areas of representation were significant and, ultimately, fatal to a constitutionally adequate defense," Bishop wrote. "As a consequence of trial counsel's failures as stated, the state procured a judgment of conviction that lacks reliability."

Among other issues, the judge wrote that the defense could have focused more on Skakel's brother, Thomas, who was an early suspect in the case because he was the last person seen with Martha Moxley. Had Sherman done so, "there is a reasonable probability that the outcome of the trial would have been different," the judge wrote.

During a state trial in April on the appeal, Skakel took the stand and blasted Sherman's handling of the case, portraying him as an overly confident lawyer having fun and basking in the limelight while making fundamental mistakes from poor jury picks to failing to track down key witnesses.

Sherman has said he did all he could to prevent Skakel's conviction and denied he was distracted by media attention in the high-profile case.

Prosecutors said Sherman spent thousands of hours preparing the defense, challenged the state on large and small legal issues, consulted experts and was assisted by some of the state's top lawyers. Sherman attacked the state's evidence, presented an alibi and pointed the finger at an earlier suspect, prosecutors said.

"This strategy failed not because of any fault of Sherman's, but because of the strength of the state's case," prosecutor Susann Gill wrote in court papers.

Skakel, who maintains his innocence, was denied parole last year and was told he would not be eligible again to be considered for release for five years.

___

Christoffersen reported from New York City.

Associated Press



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