Michael Skakel, the Kennedy cousin who was freed on procedural grounds after he spent more than a decade behind bars for the 1975 murder of his teenage neighbor, has sued the town of Greenwich, Connecticut, and its lead investigator on claims he was targeted for financial gain.
Skakel, a 63-year-old nephew of Robert F. Kennedy’s widow, Ethel Kennedy, has been on a crusade to clear his name after he was wrongfully convicted in 2002 of murdering 15-year-old Martha Moxley.
Skakel’s arrest and trial were a national spectacle—one he now claims the town’s lead investigator, Frank Garr, was hoping to cash in on through a book collaboration about Shakel’s conviction.
The lawsuit stated the actions of Garr and prosecutors “were done and made maliciously, intentionally and willfully.”
Shakel was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison, but was sprung from a state prison in 2013 after a judge overturned his conviction when it was determined his old trial lawyer failed to adequately represent him. The Chief State’s Attorney declined to prosecute Skakel again in 2020, solidifying his freedom.
Shakel’s attorney told the Greenwich Time that being free isn’t enough for his client, however. Stephan Seeger said Shakel’s time locked up and the bad press associated with his name has him wanting more accountability for the wrongful conviction.
“Try picking up where you left off under that dark cloud,” Seeger said. “Of course it’s not something he can walk away from—why would anybody?”
He reportedly added, “For a sensationalized “Kennedy Cousin’ murder he didn’t commit, he was given 11 and a half years of his life in jail.”
Shakel’s lawsuit says his civil rights were violated due to “malicious prosecution” and “abuse of process,” which included Garr allegedly withholding crucial details about the case that may have proved Skakel’s innocence decades ago.
Shakel claims that includes the withholding of statements from witnesses who said two other men were in Moxley’s neighborhood the night of her murder—potential suspects who could have bludgeoned the teenage girl to death with a golf club (from the Shakel family home) in her yard.
For decades, Shakel has maintained that he was was miles away at the approximate time of Moxley’s murder, watching a Monty Python TV episode with others.
Prosecutors hammered Shakel during his trial, alleging he’d killed Moxley in a fit of rage for denying his advances as she became sexually involved with his brother, Tommy. Appellate attorneys determined a decade later, however, that Skakel’s former attorney was inadequate during trial, failing to focus on Tommy as a possible suspect and never attempting to contact an alibi witness.
Shakel’s new lawsuit alleges that Garr had “deep antipathy” toward him and the entire Kennedy family, claiming the lead detective went as far as threatening witnesses who could have raised doubts about Shakel’s prosecution.
No arrests have been made in connection to Moxley’s murder since Shakel’s release.
Shakel’s lawsuit is seeking unspecified compensation and punitive damages from both the city and Garr, who is now an inspector with the state’s attorney’s office.
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