Connecticut Court Reinstates Kennedy Cousin Skakel's Murder Conviction

A divided Connecticut Supreme Court has reinstated Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel's murder conviction in the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley, rejecting a lower court ruling that his trial lawyer didn't adequately represent him.

    

The state's highest court on Friday released its 4-3 ruling.

    

Skakel's lawyer said he was reviewing the ruling and had no immediate comment.

    

Skakel was convicted in 2002 of killing Moxley in Greenwich, where they were teenage neighbors. He was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.

    

But he was freed in 2013 after a judge granted him a new trial. The court found, in part, that Skakel's trial lawyer failed to argue that Skakel's brother could have been responsible for the crime and failed to present a key alibi witness for Skakel.

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