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CNN Live Today

Damaging Testimony Heard in Skakel Murder Trial

Aired May 21, 2002 - 12:11   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In the meantime, here in the southeast, testimony continues in the Kennedy cousin murder trial, after potentially damaging statements from a former acquaintance of Michael Skakel.

Deborah Feyerick is watching that trial once again outside the courthouse in Norwalk, Connecticut. Deborah, good afternoon.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Bill.

Well Michael Skakel once worked with his cousin Michael Kennedy. He is the son of Robert and Ethel Kennedy who was tragically killed in a ski accident. He was being investigated for having an affair with a teenage baby-sitter. Well the woman who is testifying now is a friend of that baby-sitter.

Jaran Ridge (ph) said that several years ago the baby-sitter came to stay with her for a couple of weeks. And every night she'd have nine, ten friends over. Well on one of those nights, Michael Skakel was there. And Ridge (ph) testified that Skakel came up to her and in jest said, "Ask me why I killed my neighbor," then saying something about a golf club.

Now Ridge (ph) said that all of this was said jokingly and that it was really the only thing she remembers Skakel saying about the Moxley murder. But then later in a taped phone conversation, it appears that Skakel may have said a lot more to her. Something about being outside the night of the murder, about being up in a pine tree when Martha Moxley was killed. She could not recall the details of this phone conversation, which were taped by a friend of hers. A friend, she said, who is no longer a friend.

Now what she was interesting about the relationship between the baby-sitter and Michael Skakel is that at the time, Michael Skakel was in his late 30s. The baby-sitter was about 15 years old, vibrant, full of life, beautiful. A woman not unlike Martha Moxley, according to this witness. So she is on the stand now. She will be cross- examined, and prosecutors have a couple of questions of their own -- Bill.

HEMMER: Deborah, the trial continues to move at a pretty fair clip. Is the prosecution about to wrap up its own case, or how far away are we from that? FEYERICK: They have about two more witnesses that they're going to call to the stand, and then they're done. So they can wrap up by the end of today if everything goes according to plan. That means the defense is going to get their shot starting tomorrow.

HEMMER: Have you seen the witness list for the defense? Do we have any anticipation about what they may present?

FEYERICK: Yes, they haven't got half the number of witnesses. They have about 25 witnesses that they're going to be calling to the stand. They think their case will take only about four days.

We're going to see, for example, perhaps Tommy Skakel, Michael's brother. They may call him. They're not 100 percent sure on that yet. But they're also going to call a number of Skakel's brothers, who will provide an alibi for where Michael was at the time they believe Martha Moxley was killed. People who were supposedly in the car with Michael driving one of their cousins home. So that's going to be very valuable evidence for Michael Skakel.

HEMMER: Thank you, Deborah. Deborah Feyerick again in Norwalk.

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