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CNN Live At Daybreak

Testimony Expected to Resume in Trial of Michael Skakel

Aired May 09, 2002 - 06:33   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Testimony is expected to resume in a Norwalk, Connecticut courtroom this morning in the trial of Michael Skakel, cousin of the Kennedys. Skakel is accused of killing neighbor, Martha Moxley, when they were both 15.

Our Deborah Feyerick is covering the trial.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Martha Moxley appears to have struggled with her killer in the moments before her death, possibly fending off a sexual attack. Forensic pathologist, Dr. Henry Lee, testified Martha's jeans and underpants were pulled down before she was hit with a golf club, a finding Lee based on blood stains on the clothes.

DR. HENRY LEE, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: This indicates it's a sexual assault related to homicide. And the victim who probably struggled did not have any penetration.

FEYERICK: And no semen was found, though Dr. Lee said it's possible it was wiped away as Martha was dragged some 80 feet to the tree where she was found. Prosecutors plan to put this evidence together with Michael Skakel's earlier statements that he went looking for Martha that night, because he wanted to kiss her.

Autopsy photos show Moxley's face streaked with gashes from the club. It's unclear exactly when Moxley was hit. The Connecticut's chief medical examiner testified that once Moxley was struck, she likely lost consciousness quickly.

Though Michael Skakel is the one on trial, it's his brother, Tommy, who police wanted to arrest in 1975. The chief prosecutor at the time refused to sign the arrest warrant, not enough evidence.

THOMAS KEEGAN, FMR. GREENWICH POLICE CHIEF: Based upon the information that we had at the time, and we're talking about 1975, 1976, certainly Tommy Skakel was a hot suspect.

FEYERICK: Skakel's lawyer accused prosecutors of withholding the arrest warrant application, containing evidence the lawyer believes would exonerate Michael Skakel, or at the very least, show that Michael wasn't even on the police radar at the time. MICKEY SHERMAN, MICHAEL SKAKEL'S ATTORNEY: And I had never seen it. They never told us about it, and I thought it was important for us to have it in our hands.

FEYERICK: The warrant came to light during questioning of a former Greenwich police chief, Thomas Keegan confirming an officer went to Tommy Skakel's high school to pull the 17-year-old's psychiatric records. Tommy Skakel has previously denied any role in Moxley's killing.

(on camera): Michael Skakel's lawyer tried locking in the time of Moxley's death between 9:30 and 10:00 Thursday night. That's the time Michael says he says he was away driving his cousin home. But the medical examiner testified Moxley may have been killed as late as 1:00 the next morning, a time when Skakel would have been back in the neighborhood.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Norwalk, Connecticut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And the trial goes on again today. We'll have the latest from that trial.

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