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American Morning

By Day's End, Skakel Murder Trial Could Be in Hands of Jury

Aired June 03, 2002 - 07:21   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: By day's end today the Michael Skakel murder trial could be in the hands of the jury. Skakel charged with beating 15-year-old Martha Moxley back in October of 1975. Lawyers on both sides will deliver closing arguments later today.

Our legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin back up in Norwalk, live outside the courthouse in Connecticut -- Jeffrey, good morning. Happy Monday to you.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi, Bill.

HEMMER: Let's take this each side at a time here. Prosecutors get up, they address the jurors and say, Michael Skakel is guilty of this crime because we have proven and shown what?

TOOBIN: That he confessed. I think the heart of the prosecution case is that Michael Skakel confessed to two different students at the Elan school, which is the famous or infamous reform school for rich kids in Maine that he attended in the late '70s. They are going to say that no one confesses to a crime, even under unusual circumstances, unless they did it.

They don't really have anything else. The evidence regarding the crime scene, the forensic evidence, is non-existent as it relates to Michael Skakel. All we know is that the murder weapon came out of the Skakel home. There were seven children in that home, lots of different people came and went; it really doesn't tie to Michael Skakel. The confessions are really the heart of the prosecution's case.

HEMMER: Go to Mickey Sherman, the defense attorney. He stands up there and says there is no way you can convict my client because...

TOOBIN: Well he starts with that evidence of the crime scene, and the evidence of what actually happened on the night in question. And he says two things. One, there is no evidence tying Michael Skakel to the murder weapon or to the murder itself. And then he says he has an alibi for the critical times. From 9:30 forward, 9:30 in the evening, he says Skakel was proved by several different witnesses to be at his cousin's house across town, he couldn't possibly have committed the crime.

And as to the confessions, he says they are simply unbelievable. That perhaps the most compelling testimony in the defense case came from other students at the Elan school who said that Michael Skakel was coerced, was forced, to confess to these crimes because otherwise he would have been beaten up, physically abused. That was pretty compelling testimony. I think that's going to be the heart of his defense case.

HEMMER: Jeffrey, the thing that really jumped out at me last week, Julie Skakel testifying for the prosecution, actually, the sister of Michael Skakel, that that night the murder took place she actually called out her brother's name because she saw, she said, someone dart in front of her car, but then later said she could not be certain whether or not it was Michael. Will that have much of an impact on jurors?

TOOBIN: Hard to know what jurors will react to, but it is true that that testimony, if believed, really does go to the heart of the alibi evidence because it said that right around the time of the murder Julie Skakel says she sees a shadowy figure dart across the lawn. She calls out "Michael," he doesn't respond. She obviously apparently, at that point, thought it was her brother Michael Skakel. Today, perhaps covering for her brother, says, well, it probably wasn't him after all. But again, that is good prosecution evidence that he may have been around, at least in the area, at the time of the murder.

HEMMER: Jeffrey, when this case began, we talked about one fundamental factor. And that factor is that defense attorneys insisted that a number of people could be responsible for her death, and prosecutors essentially had to go through this list and check off reasons why they are not guilty and Michael Skakel is. Has the prosecution effectively done that?

TOOBIN: Well I think there are two main suspects besides Michael Skakel. One is Kenneth Littleton, the tutor in the house. It was his first night on the job October 30, 1975.

I think he was, of course, a very dramatic witness here during the trial. I think the jurors having seen him will probably not think he did it. He was confused, he was a troubled man, but he really, I don't think, seemed like a murderer.

Tommy Skakel I think is a different story. Neither the prosecution nor the defense called him as a witness. So he remains off stage as a sort of mysterious specter. I think that very much helps the defense.

And the other thing that helps the defense is that early in this trial it was brought out that the police in Greenwich, Connecticut prepared an arrest warrant for Tommy Skakel. They were so sure they had their man that they went to prosecutors and said, "Arrest Tommy Skakel." Prosecutors said, "No, you don't have enough." But I think that's very troubling for a jury if they're going to see that the police thought the other guy actually did it.

HEMMER: In a word, you said the prosecution had a weak case. Still believe that? TOOBIN: I think it's a tough road for the prosecution. But there is one prediction I have, which is no hung jury. This is a jury that asked to have a barbecue together last week, so they're obviously getting along. And I think that means they'll probably agree one way or the other guilty or not.

HEMMER: Warm up the grill. Thank you, Jeffrey. Jeffrey Toobin in Norwalk.

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