Posted on 05/16/2006 4:08:00 PM PDT by STARWISE
A former U.S. solicitor general will help Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel appeal his murder conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying Monday the case will focus on when the charges were filed.
Theodore B. Olson has argued 43 cases before the nation's highest court, including representing George W. Bush in the disputed presidential race of 2000.
Skakel, 45, is serving a sentence of 20 years to life for his 2002 conviction in the 1975 beating death of his Greenwich neighbor, Martha Moxley, when the two were teenagers.
Skakel appealed his conviction to the Connecticut Supreme Court last year, arguing among other issues that the five-year statute of limitations expired when he was charged in 2000. The court unanimously rejected the appeal in January. That decision overturned a 1983 precedent.
(snip)
Skakel's attorneys argued that the decision violated his due process rights under the U.S. constitution by retroactively applying the law.
"I am confident that our petition will present the United States Supreme Court with compelling reasons to hear Mr. Skakel's case and overturn his conviction," Olson said.
Attorney Hope Seeley, who also represents Skakel, has said the appeal would likely focus on the statute of limitations, evidence not turned over during the trial and the decision to try Skakel in adult court even though he was 15 at the time of the crime.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
I saw this last night. Too disappointed to post it.
Now that Barbara is gone, it looks like Ted has gone over to the DARK SIDE!
Very Sad.
I wonder whether he was disappointed about not being nominated to Supremes.
Skakel is none of the above and deserves none of what is about to be given him.
This is so wrong in so many ways.
The first thing that Olsen will have to do is explain how Skakel's family owned a rare and expensive set of golf clubs of the same brand as the club that was found thrust into the girl's neck and that a single club was missing from that set...the same (type of) club found at the murder scene.
Some lawyers can be paid to do anything. Er, scratch that. MOST lawyers can be paid to do anything.
I glad he's doing it. Ex-post facto is wrong- no matter who it is.
It needs to be stopped.
Very Sad.
A good lawyer is not an idealist. He's essentially a hired gunslinger. And the justification for a good criminal defense attorney is that everyone deserves the best defense possible.
Olson is quite competent in arguments before the Supreme Court. Those Justices aren't going to be hoodwinked by him. If his client has a decent argument then Skakel deserves to have someone competent to draft it and present it to the High Court.
No appellate court, SCOTUS included, retrys or rehears the facts of the case. Those were settled by the jury trial. On appeal, the defense is simply arguing points of law that may have been misinterpreted by the lower court. For SCOTUS, they are primarily interested in Constitutional issues, like Due Process--the equal application of the law to all parties in all cases.
Too often, the courts attempt to get more justice by bending the laws. This makes the court system arbitrary and capricious. The Due Process clause was the primary argument that Olson used to halt the farce of the undending Florida recounts that totally ignored settled case law and numerous Election Statutes to seek more justice.
Why? Have you actually read any of the information that could clear Skakel? Have you read any of the articles, papers by respected people who argue Skakel is innocent. I have, and if the wrong man is in jail, even if it is a Kennedy RELATION,not even a blood relative mind you, then I say good for Olsen.
There was a man who was living with the Skakels,surving as their tutor, who had a history of mental problems, in later years he admitted doing it and ended up killing himself. I believe the wrong man is in jail.
Ted Olson is helping this murderer? OMG
Actually, no.
He isn't arguing that at all, but other issues related to the case and the validity of trying it in the first place.
To put it nicely, he is going to argue about technicalities.
It needs to be stopped.
I'm confused. Please elaborate...
To whom did this guy admit having killed the girl? Did this come out in Skakil's trial? Given what you've said,why are they pursuing the Kobe Bryant thing? Claiming that this dead guy did it is,IMO,a far more plausible scenario than the Kobe Bryant defense.
An absolute disgrace to his wife's memory.
Just goes to show--lawyers are the bane of society!!
Well, it's hard,because the guy is dead, but the prosecutors refused to reconsider this guy. When they set their sites on Skakel, that's all they cared about. What people don't know is that Skakel and his family TOTALLY cooperated with police when the whole thing went down. There was so much false information out there. I just don't want an innocent man to rot in jail.
Doesn't sound like guilt is the issue here.
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