Kennedy Cousin, Convicted of Killing Summit Resident's Daughter, Gets New Trial

When Summit resident Dorthy Moxley, 81, left Overlook Hospital Wednesday afternoon following outpatient surgery, she was feeling better than she had in a while. 

Later that day, however, Moxley learned that following years of failed appeals, Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel, 53, convicted in 2002 of the 1975 murder of her daughter, Martha, was awarded a new trial by Connecticut Judge Thomas Bishop. 

While Moxley and her son John, a Short Hills resident, knew Skakel, imprisoned for a decade, was making yet another appeal, John said the news was still "very surprising."

"Judge Bishop took everything all the other courts interpreted one way and went in a completely different direction," John Moxley said. "The trial was based on evidence. There was a verdict. Now he's saying, 'it wasn't the message, it was the messenger.'"

Skakel has maintained that his attorney Michael Sherman did not provide him with a proper defense during his trial, choosing to focus on the new-found media attention rather than building Skakel's case. But until now, no other judge has upheld his claim. Skakel, the nephew of Ethel and Robert F. Kennedy, was convicted of killing Martha, 15, by bludgeoning her with a golf club in their wealthy Greenwich, Conn. neighborhood.

John Moxley said he had not yet read Bishop's 136-page decision, but called it "confusing at best."

"It's frustrating and I'm angry, but my mom and I are of the same opinion, it's beyond our control," he said. "We will be there to support the State of Connecticut as it goes to appeal. The process is what it is; we really have no influence over the proceedings. Every day in trial takes two days off your life."

Skakel's defense team on Thursday filed a motion for a bail hearing. If granted, Skakel could post bail and be released. A hearing date has not been set.