Kennedy Babysitter Might Testify

A woman who allegedly had a sexual relationship with the late Michael Kennedy when she was 14 will likely testify in the murder trial of Kennedy's cousin Michael Skakel, lawyers said Wednesday.

Jury selection continues Thursday for a third day in the trial of Skakel, who is accused of beating Martha Moxley to death in 1975 with a golf club.

Neither prosecutors nor defense lawyers would say why the woman would be called. The Associated Press reported in January that the woman was on the prosecution's witness list. On Wednesday, she was also named as a possible defense witness.

In 1997, Skakel was questioned by investigators looking into reports that Michael Kennedy had an affair with the woman when she was a 14-year-old baby sitter for his children. Sex with a minor under 16 is statutory rape under Massachusetts law.

No charges were ever filed against Kennedy, who died later that year in a skiing accident. The AP is not using the woman's name, in keeping with its policy of not identifying victims in sexual assault cases.

A third person was seated on the jury Wednesday. After all 12 jurors and four alternates are selected, the trial is expected to take more than a month.

Moxley's death was unsolved for years, but drew renewed attention after several books were published about the case. Skakel, whose father was the brother of Ethel Kennedy, was arrested in January 2000 after an investigation by a one-judge grand jury.

Skakel was arraigned as a juvenile because he was 15 when the crime was committed, but the case was later transferred to adult court. If convicted, Skakel, now 41, could face life in prison.

Martha Moxley's mother, Dorthy, made her first appearance among the courtroom spectators Wednesday. Afterward, she smiled and gave reporters a thumbs-up sign.

"None of this is really bothering me at all," Moxley said. "I've waited for this for a long time."

There were no Kennedys in the courtroom Wednesday.

Other witnesses the defense might call include three of Skakel's siblings, his cousin Courtney Kennedy and her husband Paul Hill. Hill was one of the Guildford Four, whose convictions for bombing two English pubs in 1975 were overturned in 1989 after that government admitted police had altered evidence.

Prosecutors said they plan to call Dorthy Moxley, Skakel's brother Thomas, his father Rushton Skakel Sr. and Kenneth Littleton.

Both Thomas Skakel and Littleton were once considered prime suspects in the murder. Littleton was granted immunity and testified before the grand jury.

Prosecutors also plan to call former students of the Elan School, the substance abuse treatment center in Maine that Skakel attended in the late 1970s.

By John Christoffersen