Kennedy Cousin Michael Skakel Granted Bail As He Awaits New Murder Trial

[Little Star]

Source: CBS Local

Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel has been granted bail while prosecutors in Connecticut appeal a ruling that gives him a new trial in the 1975 slaying of neighbor Martha Moxley.

Skakel, the 53-year-old nephew of Robert F. Kennedy’s widow, Ethel, touched his hand to his chest and looked back at his supporters in the courtroom, his brothers among them, as the judge set bail at $1.2 million.

He has been in prison more than 11 years on a sentence of 20 years to life but was expected to be freed shortly after the hearing in Stamford Superior Court.

As conditions of the bail, the Stamford Superior Court judge ordered that Skakel live in Connecticut and wear a GPS tracking device. His lawyer said moments after the hearing ended that Skakel was “very happy” about the outcome.


Read more: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/11/21/kennedy-cousin-michael-skakel-poised-for-prison-release/

[duffyduff]

1. Glad to hear that. He never should have gone to trial in the first place.

Unfortunately the nightmare hasn't ended for him.

[marshall]

2. I thought he was never charged

Didn't he go on to complete his medical degree?

[Chakab]

3. When Skakel is finally exonerated, I hope that there is a serious amount of blowback on Mark Fuhrman

Fuhrman used this case to rehabilitate his image and managed to achieve a degree of respectability after Skakel was convicted. When in reality, he helped to railroad Skakel.

[MicaelS]

4. Skakel is living proof that if you have enough money..

And are famous enough, you will be able to get away with murder. OJ Simpson did it. Robert Blake did it. They might have to pay civil damages, but the actual act, they will not go to prison for the actual crime, or if they do, they won't serve out their sentence.

I have read that defending Michael Skakel has seriously depleted the Skakel family wealth. I hope they go bankrupt defending him. And I hope he gets found Guilty again and goes back to prison for as long as possible.

[Capt. Obvious]

5. Amazing reading two completely different opinions

in this very thread.

[MicaelS]

7. Yes, certainly is.

Ah well, I have been wrong before, and will surely be wrong again.

[Chakab]

8. This is the problem with media trials. People take superficial information that they hear on TV

at face value and believe that they are experts on the crime. I suggest that you read the pieces that RFK Jr. has written about this case or listen to some interviews that he's done on the subject.

The Skakel family was broke long before Michael was charged with this murder. Rushton Skakel, Michael's father, became a dysfunctional alcoholic after his wife died of cancer and became estranged from his sister Ethel after he retreated into a permantent alcoholic stupor. As a result, the Skakels had almost no relationship with their Kennedy cousins at the time the crime was committed. Additionally, Michael Skakel's father actually let the police use his house as a base of operations to investigate the Moxley murder and let his children be interviewed multiple times without legal counsel present.

If the Skakel family had as much money or influence as you think that they do, Michael would never have been convicted in the first place because the case against him is a joke.

[gopiscrap]

6. good for him prayers go out for him and his family!!!!!