Michael Skakel was convicted of murder over a decade ago. In the 1970's Skakel (who was then 17) allegedly bashed in the head of the girl next door with a golf club. It took 30 years before the prosecutors finally brought a case against Skakel; one has to wonder if family connections were one reason for the delay. Because he is from a wealthy family related to the Kennedys, Skakel kept appealing his conviction. His last claim was that his attorney had done such a poor job that he was denied a fair trial. The attorney in question was the highest paid criminal defense lawyer in CT at the time. He conducted a very strong defense, but Skakel's new lawyers said that the trial attorney had not contacted a possible alibi witness and that this fact required that the conviction be overturned. The matter went to the Connecticut Supreme Court that ruled against Skakel. The next year, a new judge was appointed to the Supreme Court to replace one who retired. At that point, the court decided to reconsider the Skakel matter and it ruled the other way with the new judge supplying the necessary vote to reverse. Skakel was freed after ten years in jail.
The state filed papers to ask the US Supreme Court to hear the case. It seemed like a long shot to me, but today that maybe is not true. The attorneys general of eleven states have filed brief in the Supreme Court in support of the Skakel case being heard. These attorneys general argue that the rule cannot be that any time a competent defense attorney makes a mistake, the trial must be overturned on the grounds of incompetent trial counsel. They argue that there must be more to the story than that.
I doubt that SCOTUS will hear this case. Still, it does seem rather clear that there has to be something rather drastic before a criminal trial can be overturned because the counsel for the defendant was incompetent. Will SCOTUS take on a case like this one that targets a Kennedy? We shall soon see.
The state filed papers to ask the US Supreme Court to hear the case. It seemed like a long shot to me, but today that maybe is not true. The attorneys general of eleven states have filed brief in the Supreme Court in support of the Skakel case being heard. These attorneys general argue that the rule cannot be that any time a competent defense attorney makes a mistake, the trial must be overturned on the grounds of incompetent trial counsel. They argue that there must be more to the story than that.
I doubt that SCOTUS will hear this case. Still, it does seem rather clear that there has to be something rather drastic before a criminal trial can be overturned because the counsel for the defendant was incompetent. Will SCOTUS take on a case like this one that targets a Kennedy? We shall soon see.
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