On Wednesday, a Connecticut judge ruled that he did not have the authority to grant bail for Michael Skakel, a Kennedy cousin who has been incarcerated for the last decade over the slaying of his Greenwich, Conn. neighbor, 15-year-old Martha Moxley in 1975.
However, Judge Thomas Bishop did lift a stay in the case, which clears a path for the 53-year-old to receive a bail hearing if the state's appellate review board upholds the judge's ruling, reports NBC News.
Skakel was granted a new trial last month when Bishop ruled his attorney did not sufficiently represent him when he was convicted in 2002 of killing neighbor Moxley in his ritzy Connecticut neighborhood when they both were just 15 years old. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Skakel, a nephew of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, was present for the hearing Wednesday morning in Rockville Superior Court.
Skakel's current defense attorney, Hubert Santos, filed a motion after the ruling seeking a $500,000 bond, reports CBS News. Judge Bishop questioned whether he has the authority to consider a motion for bond since his orders are stayed and state law excludes bail for those convicted of murder.
"He should have been let out when your honor issued his decision 15 days ago. This defendant has the right to walk out of this courtroom today," Santos said in court Wednesday.
Prosecutor Susann Gill argued state law excludes bail for those convicted of murder, plus, she said, terminating the stay would thwart the administration of justice by requiring the state to retry Skakel before an appeal is finished. She added that if the stay was lifted, the case should go back to the judicial court of Stamford.
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