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American Morning
Look at Latest in Skakel Murder Trial
Aired May 28, 2002 - 08:09 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, the jury could get the case of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel, later this week. Skakel, as you know, is charge with Martha Moxley's murder back in 1975. The defense is expected to rest its case today, but will the defendant or his brother testify before it's all over?
Well, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin has been following the trial. He joins us now.
Good morning.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi.
ZAHN: Deborah Feyerick has gotten the indication that, courtside, that neither one of them will testify. Are you hearing the same thing?
TOOBIN: I spoke to Mickey Sherman last night, and he said that he will not...
ZAHN: Name-dropper, you.
TOOBIN: Well, he's the guy.
ZAHN: He's a good guy, yes, to talk to.
TOOBIN: He's the guy who knows. Neither the defendant nor his brother, Tommy Skakel, will testify. I think the Michael Skakel news is not very surprising. It's usually a sign of some desperation when the defendant takes the witness stand, and I think the defense feels its case is going pretty well. Michael is a temperamental guy. No chance of that risk of putting him on the stand.
The Tommy Skakel decision is very interesting because he's been kind of a mysterious specter throughout this whole case -- the last person to see Martha alive, someone who obviously had some kind of relationship with Martha Moxley. We know that from her diary, which was introduced early in the case.
What the defense has decided to do is leave Tommy as kind of a mystery out there. What did he know, what did he do? They feel, I think correctly, that a mystery is in their interests, that if the jury can't quite figure out his role, that means that it will be that much more difficult for the prosecution to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
ZAHN: Do you think that strategy will work ultimately?
TOOBIN: Well, you know, I have said from the beginning in watching this case that I have not found this a particularly strong case. So I think it is, it is the right strategy. I think the more you can leave loose ends for the defense, the more you can leave uncertainties, that can only help the defense.
ZAHN: So the defense may rest today, is that what you're hearing?
TOOBIN: Absolutely. Yes. Absolutely.
ZAHN: So the jury would get the case by the end of the week?
TOOBIN: Tomorrow some sort of rebuttal case from the prosecution. Summations and jury instructions on Thursday. They could possibly get the case by late Thursday.
ZAHN: Now, when you look at, that's a pretty speedy process we're talking about.
TOOBIN: It has not been a long trial, right.
ZAHN: So what does that mean in terms of what we could read into what the jury will be considering at this point?
TOOBIN: We, I don't think the length of the trial means that much. What I think is significant is just the absence of direct testimony against Michael Skakel in terms of physical evidence tied to the crime scene. There's no DNA. There's no hair, fiber, anything like that.
The best evidence that the prosecution has is two statements that Skakel allegedly made to classmates at the now notorious Elan School for troubled rich kids...
ZAHN: Sure.
TOOBIN: ... where he allegedly admitted the crime. And I think the best thing that the defense did in its case over the past week has been to call witnesses who said that Skakel was coerced, was sort of forced into physically...
ZAHN: Coerced, badgered.
TOOBIN: ... badgered, physically. I mean to be hit, beat up into saying that he committed the crime. So if you take -- if you don't believe those confessions, I don't see how you can get a conviction.
ZAHN: Now, it's interesting to see who the defense has called back. On Friday they called back a witness that had actually testified before. Her name was Andrea Shakespeare Renna, who was a friend of Skakel's sister Julie. What was the significance of the defense calling her back?
TOOBIN: Well, the defense has put a lot of emphasis on the alibi, this, the claim that Michael Skakel at the time that the defense says the murder took place, 9:30 to 10:30 at night, that he was across town at his cousin's house.
During the prosecution case, Andrea Renna testified that, in fact, she thought Skakel never went to the cousin's house, that he stayed at his own house, eliminating the alibi.
What the defense did in calling her back was to try to show that she wasn't really sure that he left, that she didn't have firsthand knowledge, that over the many years since this trial, since this crime, he, that Renna had changed her story. And I don't, I think that testimony was probably pretty much a wash. But it shows how much Mickey Sherman and the defense are putting emphasis on this alibi and making sure that the jury believes Michael was across town at the time of the murder.
ZAHN: I want to put you on the spot right now.
TOOBIN: OK.
ZAHN: If you were sitting on that jury? Well, we don't know exactly what the judge's instructions will be.
TOOBIN: Sure.
ZAHN: Would you find him guilty or would you acquit him?
TOOBIN: I think it would be very, very tough to find him guilty at this point. I mean I'm not carrying water for either side. I have no preference here. But I have been struck by how weak this case is. I think...
ZAHN: Once again, because there's no compelling physical evidence...
TOOBIN: There's no com...
ZAHN: ... that would tie him to the murder of Martha Moxley?
TOOBIN: Right. And these confessions seem sort of screwy to me. I mean, they're so old, that they are taken under very difficult circumstances. Many of the witnesses who gave the testimony about the confession have a lot of problems. One of them, Gregory Coleman, actually now is dead. So I think that the defense...
ZAHN: And he's the one who had a heroin problem.
TOOBIN: He's the heroin problem. I think it's going to be very tough to get a conviction in this case. But I have been proved wrong many times. So let's not read too much into this.
ZAHN: Well, we will hold you to this one come early next week or Friday if we have... TOOBIN: Well, it could be. It could be this week.
ZAHN: All right, thanks, Jeffrey. Appreciate it.
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