NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- Prosecutors and Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel's attorney have filed court papers in his 2002 murder conviction appeal in which they disagree about the strength of the government's case and the effectiveness of his trial attorney.
Skakel argues trial attorney Michael Sherman failed to competently defend him when he was convicted in the golf club bludgeoning of his Greenwich neighbor Martha Moxley in 1975, when they were 15. Skakel, who is serving 20 years to life, is the 52-year-old nephew of Robert F. Kennedy's widow, Ethel Kennedy.
Following an appeals trial in April, prosecutors filed court papers last week and Skakel's attorney filed them last month. A judge is expected to rule by December on whether Skakel deserves a new trial.
Prosecutors argue Sherman's efforts far exceeded standards, saying he 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. "If the evidence on which the jury based its verdict is not considered compelling, then many verdicts upheld in this state must truly be on shaky ground."