mprisoned Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel took the stand in a Connecticut courtroom on Thursday in his latest bid to have his murder conviction for the 1975 killing of a Greenwich teenager thrown out.
Skakel's testimony came during a wrongful imprisonment trial before a state judge who will decide whether to grant him a new trial on the grounds that his previous defense attorney, Mickey Sherman, did not competently defend him.
Skakel, 52, testified on Thursday that Sherman called himself a 'media whore,' signed autographs outside of court, and ignored Skakel's trial strategy suggestions.
One of the most significant suggestions that Skakel gave was that he wanted to go on the stand himself.
Skakel is the nephew of Ethel Skakel Kennedy, widow of the late U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
Skakel is serving 20 years to life in prison for the bludgeoning death of 15-year-old Martha Moxley, his neighbor in Greenwich, Connecticut. He was convicted in 2002.
Skakel testified that prior to the murder trial, Sherman promised him that the case would be dismissed before trial.
Skakel said Sherman's then-girlfriend, who was present, warned Sherman not to make such grand promises, the Greenwich Time newspaper reported.
New representation: Skakel, seen here on Thursday with his current lawyer Jessica Santos, testified that his former lawyer Mickey Sherman called himself a 'media whore,' signed autographs outside of court
Wrangling: Skakel said that his former lawyer would not listen to his suggestions, including his offer to take the stand
'Don't listen to her,' Skakel said Sherman replied. 'She doesn't know what she's talking about. You'll never see the inside of a courtroom.'
Sherman - who was sitting in the gallery during the testimony, the Hartford Courant newspaper reported - could not be reached for comment.
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'I was flabbergasted by his nonchalant attitude,' Skakel said during questioning by his new attorney, Hubert Santos.
Connecticut's state Supreme Court has upheld Skakel's conviction, and the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review the case, according to the newspaper.
Thomas Skakel, left, was going out with Martha Moxley in 1975 and young Michael, right, was alleged to be jealous
Possible suspect: Skakel's lawyers are now entering an old police sketch (right) into the crew of evidence as they say it looks like Ken Littleton (left), the Moxley family tutor at thetime of the murder
Martha Moxley was just 15-years-old when she was brutally murdered close to her home in Connecticut
On October 30, 1975, Moxley attended a Halloween party in the prosperous neighborhood where both her family and the Skakel family lived. Her body was discovered the next morning in her backyard.
Earlier this month Skakel touted another piece of the trial that he says was overlooked by his former lawyer, saying that a police sketch from early in the 1975 investigation was not included as evidence.
The Hartford Courant reports that the legal team even goes so far as to say that the sketch looks more like one of the earlier suspects in the case- a man who used to work as a tutor at the Moxley family's home named Kenneth Littleton.
There were no eyewitnesses to Martha Moxley's murder but the sketch is a composite from a report given from the private security guard who worked at the Belle Haven, Connecticut community where the Moxley's and Skakel's family lived.