crimes and misdemeanors

Kennedy Cousin Michael Skakel Is Free on Bail After a Decade in Prison

Michael Skakel, the nephew of Robert Kennedy’s widow and a cousin to Robert Kennedy Jr., has spent the last eleven years behind bars, convicted of murdering 15-year-old Martha Moxley in 1975. But he’ll sleep in a private bed tonight (exactly where, his lawyers aren’t saying) and eat non-prison food tomorrow, after a judge granted him bail on Thursday. Judge Gary White, of Connecticut Superior Court in Stamford, set bail at $1.2 million, and Skakel posted his bond a few hours later, using checks from his brother John Skakel in Portland, Oregon. The judge ruled last month he had been inadequately represented during his 2002 murder trial, and should get a new one. While he’s waiting for that to happen, Skakel is under orders not to leave Connecticut without permission, and to wear a tracking device, which surely beats an orange jump suit.

Kennedy Cousin Skakel Out on Bail After 11 Years