Prosecutors Appeal Ruling that Overturned Skakel Conviction in Moxley Murder

Written by Barbara Heins

An appeal was filed Friday by prosecutors seeking to reinstate the conviction of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel on a charge of fatally bludgeoning neighbor Martha Moxley with a golf club 39 years ago.

In its appeal, the state asks the Supreme Court to reverse a ruling that Skakel’s attorney failed to adequately defend him at the 2002 trial, and that puts prosecutors in the position of defending the actions of Greenwich lawyer Mickey Sherman, who once opposed them, according to a CBS New York report.

Last fall, Judge Thomas Bishop granted the 53-year-old nephew of Robert F. Kennedy’s widow, Ethel, a new trial, saying he probably would have been acquitted if the defense focused more on his brother Thomas Skakel.

Moxley, a neighbor of the Skakels in the gated waterfront Greenwich neighborhood of Belle Haven, was murdered with a golf club on Halloween Eve 1975. The golf club was eventually identified as part of a set belonging to Skakel’s late mother.

When Skakel’s conviction was overturned in October 2013, he was about half-way through serving a 20-years to life sentence.

The Moxley family has maintained they believe Skakel committed the murder.

Prosecutors have previously said they’ll retry Skakel if their appeal fails. It’s unknown when the high court will rule on the state’s appeal.

Meanwhile, Skakel has been free on bond since the conviction was overturned.