Sherman stands by Skakel to the end (Michael Skakel=Kennedy cousin)

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Source: Connecticut Post

The main scapegoat throughout the wrongful imprisonment trial of his former client Michael Skakel, celebrity lawyer Mickey Sherman exhibited an unflagging loyalty Friday to the Kennedy cousin convicted of murdering Martha Moxley.

"Mr. Skakel never admitted to me that he committed this crime and I still have that belief as well," Sherman testified in state Superior Court in Vernon.

Skakel, 52, who is serving 20 years to life in prison for the 1975 slaying of the Greenwich teenager, is seeking a new trial on the basis that Sherman did not represent his best interests when a jury convicted him in 2002.

"My allegiance was to Michael Skakel, only, and the rest of the family knew that," Sherman said.

Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Sherman-stands-by-Skakel-to-the-end-4466662.php

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Michael Skakel=nephew of RFK's widow Ethel Skakel. His cousins include environmental lawyer and Ring of Fire radio host Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Post reported yesterday that Skakel renounced his ties to the Kennedys:

Michael Skakel renounced his family ties to the Kennedys on Thursday, vehemently denying that he once bragged that he would get away with the 1975 murder of Greenwich teenager Martha Moxley because of his famous bloodline.

"It's laughable. No, the Kennedys and the Skakels are much like the Hatfields and McCoys," Skakel said. "We have a feud going way, way back."

Silent when the homicide case finally went to court in 2002, Skakel calmly stepped up to the witness stand on the eighth day of his ongoing wrongful imprisonment trial in state Superior Court in Vernon.

A hush fell over the courtroom as the 52-year-old nephew of Ethel Skakel Kennedy and the late Robert F. Kennedy raised his hand to take the oath. When asked for his business address, he gave the street number of the MacDougall-Walker Correction Institute in Suffield, where he is serving a term of 20 years to life in prison.

...

Much of Skakel's testimony amounted to a blistering indictment of his former lawyer, Mickey Sherman.

"He said he was a media whore," Skakel testified that Sherman once told him while the two were at the posh Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Fla.

...

Skakel filed a writ of habeas corpus with the court, claiming he was deprived of a competent defense because of Sherman's starstruck and cavalier demeanor.

"I was flabbergasted at the nonchalant attitude," said Skakel, flanked by two large corrections officers, one of whom he offered a mint to when he completed his testimony, an offer that was declined.