U.S.

Skakel To Be Tried As Adult

August 9, 2001 / 7:34 PM EDT / AP

The Connecticut state Supreme Court dismissed an appeal from Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel, who had sought to have his trial in the 1975 murder of a neighbor heard in juvenile court.

In a unanimous decision released Monday, the state's highest court ruled that a Juvenile Court judge's decision to transfer the case to adult court was not appealable.

Skakel, a nephew of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, is charged with the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley, a neighbor who was beaten to death with a golf club. Skakel and Moxley were 15 at the time.

Skakel is now 41. When he was charged in January 2000, he was arraigned as a juvenile because of his age at the time of the killing.

No trial date has been set. As an adult, he could be sentenced to 10 years to life in prison. As a juvenile, the maximum penalty Skakel could have received under the law in effect in 1975 was four years.

The state Supreme Court justices heard arguments in September on Skakel's appeal of the lower court decision that transferred the case to adult court.

Juvenile Court Judge Maureen Dennis ruled in January that adult court was the proper venue for the trial, in part because the state has no juvenile facility where it could send Skakel if he were convicted.

But Skakel's attorneys argued that Dennis should have devised a more creative approach to keep him in its system. Other facilities, perhaps out of state, could have been considered, they said.

The juvenile court should have considered other factors besides Skakel's age, including whether he posed a danger to the community, defense attorneys argued. They also argued that juvenile justice laws at the time of the murder emphasized treatment and rehabilitation of youthful offenders.

Assistant State's Attorney Susan Gill countered that no evidence pointed to Skakel's need for special care or treatment. She also suggested officials did not have authority to send a defendant of Skakel's age out of state to a facility designed for children.