Skakel to call Kennedy cousin for appeal

Story Highlights

• Michael Skakel plans to call cousin RFK Jr. at appeal
• Skakel, 47, was convicted in 2002 of killing a neighbor in 1975
• Martha Moxley was beaten to death in Greenwich, Connecticut
• Appeal is based on testimony of man implicating others

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NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (AP) -- Michael Skakel plans to call his cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as a witness as he appeals his murder conviction next week.

Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, the wife of 1968 presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy, is seeking a new trial based on a claim by Gitano "Tony" Bryant, who implicated his friends in the killing of 15-year-old Martha Moxley.

Skakel, 47, was convicted in 2002 of bludgeoning Moxley to death with a golf club in 1975 and is serving 20 years to life in prison.

Bryant made the claim in 2003 in a videotaped interview with Skakel's private investigator, Vito Colucci Jr. But Bryant and the two men he implicated have invoked their right against self-incrimination as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

According to court papers, Bryant said one friend had met Moxley and "wanted to go caveman on her," and that after Bryant left them that night, they later told him, "We did what we had to do."

Prosecutor Jonathan Benedict called Bryant's account "a complete fabrication."

The wife of one of the men Bryant implicated has called the claim a lie, while the other man has not returned telephone calls.

Prosecutors say in court papers they plan to call Skakel and his sister, among other witnesses. Skakel is expected to exercise his Fifth Amendment right not to testify if called.

A non-jury hearing on Skakel's petition for a new trial is to start April 17. To win a new trial, Skakel's defense must show that Bryant's account is evidence discovered after the conviction and that it likely would have changed the verdict.

In November, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to take up Skakel's appeal, which claimed a statute of limitations had expired before he was charged.