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Kennedy cousin Skakel poised for freedom in 1975 killing while he awaits new trial

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • 3f4c6dfe-Skakel Appeal
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    FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2013 file photo, Michael Skakel listens to Judge Trial Referee Thomas Bishop's ruling during a hearing in Rockville Superior Court in Vernon, Conn., to determine if he could be released while awaiting a new trial in the 1975 slaying of neighbor Martha Moxley. A bail hearing for Skakel is scheduled Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013, at Stamford Superior Court where he is expected to be released while awaiting a new trial. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham, Pool, File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE - This 1974 file photo shows Martha Moxley, at age 14, killed on Oct. 30, 1975. Michael Skakel's conviction in her death was set aside and new trial ordered Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013 by Connecticut judge Thomas Bishop, who ruled that Skakel's trial attorney failed to adequately represent him when he was found guilty in 2002. A bail hearing for Skakel is scheduled Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013, at Stamford Superior Court where he is expected to be released while awaiting a new trial. (AP Photo, File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE - In this April 30, 2013 file photo, attorney Michael Sherman testifies during a trial at Rockville Superior Court in Vernon, Conn., regarding his previous legal representation of Michael Skakel. Skakel is challenged his 2002 conviction in the 1975 slaying of neighbor Martha Moxley, on the grounds he was deprived of his constitutional right to effective legal representation. It was found that Skakel did not received effective representation and a bail hearing for Skakel is scheduled Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013, at Stamford Superior Court where he is expected to be released while awaiting a new trial. (AP Photo/The Greenwich Time, Jason Rearick, Pool, File) (The Associated Press)

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel is expected to get his first taste of freedom in more than 11 years while prosecutors appeal a ruling granting him a new trial in the 1975 slaying of a neighbor.

Skakel's bond hearing is scheduled for Thursday in Stamford Superior Court. Skakel, the 53-year-old nephew of Robert F. Kennedy's widow, Ethel Kennedy, has been serving 20 years to life in the death of Martha Moxley.

Robert Kennedy Jr. said this week that he feels "pure joy" over the prospect of his cousin being released.

Judge Thomas Bishop ruled last month that Skakel's trial attorney failed to adequately represent Skakel in 2002 when he was convicted in Moxley's bludgeoning with a golf club in wealthy Greenwich when they were 15.

Moxley's mother, Dorthy, has said she remains convinced Skakel is guilty.

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