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CNN Live At Daybreak

Skakel Family Friend Testifies Against Skakel Alibi

Aired May 10, 2002 - 05:31   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: Also, testimony is suspended today in the high-profile murder trial of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel. The judge in the case will hold hearings on the admissibility of evidence the defense says prove Skakel's former tutor confessed to the murder. Jurors heard some compelling testimony yesterday during the court proceedings.

Our Deborah Feyerick was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Skakel has an alibi explaining where he was when Martha Moxley was killed. It's an alibi that puts him in a car with two of his brothers driving a cousin home. But a prosecution witness -- a friend of sister Julie Skakel -- was at their home that night, and she testified she's positive she saw Michael inside shortly after that car pulled out of the family's driveway.

Andrea Renna said she was stunned to first read a book in the late 90s that described Michael as having been in the car. In her words, saying, "It was counter to what I knew was the case." Skakel's lawyer pressed her on why she didn't immediately go to police if she knew the story was wrong. Renna answered, "It's just a book."

A friend of Martha's also at the Skakel's that night testified she couldn't absolutely remember whether Michael Skakel was in the car when it pulled away. What the friend said she'll never forget: her dog standing frozen in the road facing the Moxley home across the street. He was barking; what she described as a scared, violent bark around the time Martha may have been killed. It's about the same time a third witness testified Michael's brother Tommy was home watching "French Connection."

Former Skakel tutor Ken Littleton takes seven drugs to treat bipolar disorder. He was long considered a suspect. Skakel's lawyer says Littleton made incriminating statements about the murder to his ex-wife.

EUGENE RICCO, KEN LITTLETON'S ATTORNEY: I do not think when taken in the proper context that is by any stretch of the imagination a confession.

FEYERICK: Skakel's lawyer hopes to create reasonable doubt by showing police 1975 considered Littleton a hot suspect.

MICKEY SHERMAN, SKAKEL'S ATTORNEY: Any evidence that may tend to show that not only did Michael Skakel not commit this crime but perhaps someone else did is quite relevant to someone's defense.

FEYERICK (on camera): The day ended before the defense could cross-examine Littleton. The jury will meet again Monday, after the judge decides whether to allow details of Ken Littleton's psychiatric exam and wire taps of conversations he had with his ex-wife.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Norwalk, Connecticut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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