Connecticut
Kennedy cousin whose murder conviction was overturned sues former cop, Connecticut town – The Boston Globe
The Connecticut Supreme Court overturned Skakel’s conviction in 2018, after he had served more than 11 years in prison, saying his defense lawyer failed to present evidence of an alibi. A state prosecutor announced in 2020 that Skakel would not be put on trial again and the murder charge was dropped.
The new lawsuit alleges the investigator, Frank Garr, was intent on getting Skakel convicted and withheld key evidence about other potential suspects from Skakel’s trial defense.
The defendants in the lawsuit “knew that there were other more likely suspects and that there was no probable cause to arrest and/or maintain a prosecution against the Plaintiff (Skakel), but continued to do so intentionally and maliciously, in order to convict a ‘Kennedy Cousin,’” the suit alleges.
The state attorney general’s office, which is defending Garr, declined to comment Tuesday. A lawyer for Greenwich did not immediately return an email message. A message also was left at a phone listing for Garr.
Skakel’s attorney, Stephan Seeger, called the lawsuit a civil rights action against Garr and the town.
“He spent 11 and a half years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit and was put through every thinkable proceeding until the case was finally dismissed,” Seeger said.
The lawsuit, filed in state court in Stamford in November, seeks unspecified damages over $15,000.
The case drew international attention because of the Kennedy name, Skakel’s rich family, numerous theories about who killed Moxley and the brutal way in which she died. Several other people, including Skakel’s brother Tommy Skakel, were mentioned as possible killers. Tommy Skakel denied involvement in the killing.
The slaying took place in the exclusive Bell Haven section of Greenwich where Martha and Skakel were neighbors. At trial, prosecutors said Skakel was angry with Martha because she had spurned his advances while having a sexual liaison with Tommy. There also was witness testimony about incriminating statements Skakel allegedly made.
Skakel’s appellate lawyers later argued that Skakel’s trial attorney, Mickey Sherman, made poor decisions, including not focusing on Tommy as a possible suspect and failing to attempt to contact an alibi witness. They said Skakel was several miles away from the crime scene, watching a Monty Python movie with friends when Moxley was killed on Oct. 30, 1975.
Sherman has defended his representation of Skakel.
There was no physical evidence and no eyewitness linking Skakel to the killing, his attorneys said.
Skakel’s cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now a presidential candidate, was one of his staunchest defenders and wrote a book saying Skakel was framed.
Skakel was first arrested in 2000, after new books about the Moxley case reignited the police investigation.
The lawsuit claims Greenwich police, prosecutors and Garr, who worked for Greenwich police before becoming an inspector with the state’s attorney’s office, withheld crucial information beneficial to Skakel from his trial defense.
The information, the suit says, included sketches of a potential suspect who did not resemble Skakel, psychological reports on other suspects and statements from witnesses who said two other men were in Moxley’s neighborhood on the night of her killing, including one who made incriminating comments.
The lawsuit also alleges Garr had “deep antipathy” toward Skakel and his family, was looking to profit from collaborating on a book about Skakel killing Moxley, and threatened witnesses so they would testify against Skakel.
Skakel suffered violations of his constitutional rights, loss of liberty from his time in prison, humiliation, embarassment, “severe emotional distress, terror and fear,” financial loss and harm and “destruction of reputation and family relationships,” the lawsuit says.
Lawyers for Garr and Greenwich have not yet filed their responses to the suit.
Moxley’s family has maintained their belief that Skakel was the killer.
The second-year Golden State Valkyries keep clearing hurdles that have never been scaled in the history of the WNBA.
They did it again Friday night.
Across the country from Ballhalla, against an opponent with the league’s worst record, the Valkyries became the fastest WNBA expansion franchise to 40 victories.
They needed just 68 games over two seasons to hit the mark.
That was among the bullet points in their 79-64 victory over the Connecticut Sun, an outcome that extended Golden State’s franchise-record win streak to seven games, including the first four in a five-city trip that concludes Wednesday at Indiana.
The Valkyries overcame a rough start on a night in which their All-Star forward, Gabby Williams, was ruled out before tip-off because of a back injury that sidelined her in the fourth quarter of the team’s win in Toronto on Wednesday.
Connecticut, which fell to 5-18, stormed to a 9-2 lead in the opening minutes and maintained an advantage into the second quarter even though its leading scorer on the season, center Brittney Griner, missed her second consecutive game because of a quad strain.
But the Valkyries’ highly touted defense eventually put a grip on the home team, and Golden State grabbed its first lead, 24-23, when Kaila Charles drove for a layup.
The visitors led 30-25 at halftime.
Connecticut kept the margin within single digits for nearly all of the third quarter, but Veronica Burton closed the period with an up-and-under layup as time expired to give Golden State a 54-44 cushion heading into the final 10 minutes.
The Valkyries put the score out of reach when Charles and Burton made back-to-back 3-pointers to widen the lead to 60-44 with 7:19 to play.
Burton had a superb game against her former team, finishing with 17 points, six assists, three rebounds, two blocks and a steal. The Valkyries are undefeated this season when the point guard has at least six assists.
Golden State’s bench contributed 42 points, seven more than its league-high season average. Janelle Salaun led the reserves with 16 points, seven rebounds, and three steals. Laeticia Amihere added six points, five rebounds, three blocks and three assists. The Valkyries also got nine points from Tiffany Hayes and eight from Kaitlyn Chen.
Williams, meanwhile, gave the team a boost from the bench.
“Gabby is still going to contribute, and she still helped us,” Burton said. “She was one of the loudest people throughout the entire game. With that … it’s a next-man-up mentality. There is not necessarily any drop-off. We find different ways to win, and we just rely on every single person on this team.”
With the win, Golden State is the first to 17 victories this season, as the result on Friday improved its record to 17-7, tying the Valkyries with Las Vegas and Minnesota (both 16-6) for the league’s top mark.
How has Golden State done it?
It starts with “high-character” players the front office brought in, coach Natalie Nakase said, noting that everyone has accepted their roles, some more challenging than others.
“The best thing about our team is we have a selfless team that understands matchups,” Nakase said. “Having a deep bench was intentional. But it also comes with the humility that each player has to have that sometimes they can start, sometimes they’ll have a night, sometimes they might not start, sometimes they might not have a night.
“This is a very special group. I am not going to take this group for granted at all because they have meshed a lot better together than I anticipated.”
But even with far more highs than lows, the Valkyries are not a finished product in the eyes of their coach. Nakase noted the team’s slow starts in its previous two games, against Washington and Toronto, and stressed stronger consistency.
The Valkyries had another rough start on Friday.
Afterward, Nakase pointed to fatigue caused by an extended period on the road.
“We lost our vocalness in the first quarter, so I wasn’t really happy with that,” she said. “When you’re tired, the first thing that goes is the mind and they stop talking. We found pockets tonight of when we were very, very connected. But I need to see some rest. They deserve it. Four games in seven days and the emptying-the-tank mentality, I saw a lot of consistency there. But this game was really tough. Credit to Connecticut.”
A woman was arrested and charged with murdering a man whose body was found behind a condominium complex in Farmington in March, police said on Friday.
Cynthia Martinez, 27, was charged with murder, unlawful discharge of a firearm, tampering with evidence, and criminal use of a firearm in connection with the death of 29-year-old Derick William Mercado-Labonte of Bridgeport.
On March 19, officers responded to Talcott Forest Road around 10 a.m. for the report of an untimely death.
They found the body of Mercado-Labonte along the wood line behind a condominium complex. He appeared to have sustained multiple areas of trauma, according to police.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Mercado-Labonte’s death a homicide.
Martinez is being held on a $3,000,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned at the Torrington Superior Court on Friday.
Police said no further information will be released at this time, as this remains an active and ongoing investigation.
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