Judge: Kennedy Cousin Skakel Won't Be Released Yet

A Connecticut judge won't immediately release Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel while he awaits a new trial in the 1975 slaying of neighbor Martha Moxley.

But Judge Thomas Bishop has lifted a stay, which could clear the way for Skakel to seek bail later. Prosecutors can appeal the decision on the stay. 

Bishop ruled on Oct. 23 that Skakel's trial attorney failed to adequately represent him in 2002 when he was found guilty in Moxley's golf club bludgeoning. Skakel and Moxley were 15-year-old neighbors in wealthy Greenwich at the time of her death.

Skakel's attorneys say that keeping him in prison would be a miscarriage of justice. Prosecutors are appealing the ruling granting Skakel a new trial.

Skakel is the 53-year-old nephew of Robert F. Kennedy's widow, Ethel.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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