Skakel Lawyers Seek a New Venue

Defense attorneys for Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel argued before the state Supreme Court on Tuesday that a juvenile court judge should have devised a more creative approach to accommodate the 41-year-old.

Skakel is appealing a ruling that transferred his trial in a homicide committed 26 years ago from juvenile to adult court.

“There really is no other reasonable conclusion the court could have come to,” said Susann Gill, an assistant state’s attorney. “The entire juvenile justice system is designed for children.”

But Skakel’s attorneys argued that other facilities, perhaps out of state, could have been considered, and that the judge should have considered factors besides Skakel’s age, including whether he posed a danger to the community.

Defense lawyers also argued that juvenile justice laws at the time of the murder emphasized treatment and rehabilitation of youthful offenders, while adult court focuses on punishment.

“We think the main flaw in the analysis here by the juvenile court was that it was based simply on age,” said attorney David Grudberg. “That analysis, while simple, we believe is far too simple.”

Gill countered that no evidence pointed to Skakel’s need for special care or treatment. She also suggested that officials did not have authority to send a defendant of Skakel’s age out of state to a facility designed for children.

Skakel, a nephew of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, is charged with the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley, a neighbor who was beaten with a golf club. Skakel and Moxley were 15 at the time.

No arrests were made for more than 24 years after the killing. Skakel was charged in January 2000 and later arraigned as a juvenile because he had been a juvenile at the time of the killing.

But Judge Maureen Dennis ruled in January that adult court was the proper venue for the trial, in part because the state has no juvenile facility where it could send Skakel if he is convicted.

The justices did not indicate Tuesday when they would make their ruling.

Michael Sherman, Skakel’s lead defense attorney, said he believes the high court will make a decision within two months, with a trial starting early next year if Skakel loses.

As a juvenile, the maximum penalty Skakel could receive under the law in effect in 1975 is four years. As an adult, he could be sentenced to 10 years to life in prison.

Prosecutor Jonathan Benedict had said he would consider dropping the case if Skakel were tried as a juvenile. He said Skakel would face such a small penalty in juvenile court that it would not be worth the trauma to Moxley’s family.

Skakel also has a motion pending before Superior Court in Stamford to dismiss the case based on a statute of limitations.