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CNN Live Today
Kennedy Cousin Murder Trial Begins
Aired May 07, 2002 - 11:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get back to this closely-watched case in Connecticut we've been talking about off and on this morning. A generation after somebody beat teenager Martha Moxley to death with a golf club, Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel went on trial today for that crime.
CNN's Elaine Quijano is covering the trial.
She joins us now from the courthouse in Norwalk -- good morning.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Leon.
Prosecutors say when he was a teenager he bludgeoned his neighbor to death. His lawyer, however, insists his client is innocent. Now more than a quarter a century later, Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel is on trial for murder.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO (voice-over): More than 26 year after Martha Moxley was killed, prosecutors and murder defendant Michael Skakel arrived at Norwalk, Connecticut Superior Court.
It was October 30, 1975, when 15-year-old Martha Moxley, after a night out with friends, didn't return home for her 10:00 curfew. The next day, Moxley's body was found under a tree in her family's yard in the gated Greenwich, Connecticut neighborhood of Belle Haven. She'd been beaten to death with a golf club, one that police said matched a set belonging to the Skakel family who lived across the street.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even though he was just 15 at the time, he knew what he was doing.
QUIJANO: In January of 2000, an arrest warrant was issued and Skakel surrendered to police. A year later, a judge ruled he'd be tried as an adult. But Skakel's attorney says the prosecution's case relies too heavily on what he sees as questionable testimony.
MICKEY SHERMAN, SKAKEL'S ATTORNEY: Just asking the jury to keep an open mind. To wait and reserve their judgment until they've heard these alleged confessions and let them analyze them in the context of collective human experience and most importantly, use their common sense and not to be swayed by the emotional impact of the horrific scene. QUIJANO: Still, prosecutors claim Skakel implicated himself while attending a substance abuse treatment center in Maine from 1978 to 1980. They say he told other students there he killed Moxley.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we're just very pleased to have the opportunity to present a strong case that points toward Mr. Skakel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO: Now the trial has been underway for about an hour now. It is expected to last roughly five weeks.
We're live in Norwalk, Connecticut. I'm Elaine Quijano.
Leon, back to you.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: OK.
HARRIS: All right, thanks, Elaine. We'll get back to you later on.
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