DATE=4/02/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT (L-O)

TITLE=MURDER TRIAL / SKAKEL

NUMBER=2-288269

BYLINE=JENNY BADNER

DATELINE=NEW YORK

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Jury selection began today (Tuesday) in Norwalk, Connecticut for the 26-year old murder case of Michael Skakel, a nephew of the late U-S Senator Robert Kennedy. Jenny Badner in New York reports.

TEXT: It is expected to take about one month to choose 12 jurors and four alternates in this high profile case, in which a cousin of the powerful Kennedy family is charged with murder.

Michael Skakel is accused of beating his neighbor Martha Moxley to death with a golf club in 1975, when they were both 15-years old.

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Television cameras and news reporters were camped outside the courtroom, waiting for the arrival of Mr. Skakel. No members of the Kennedy family accompanied him, although a daughter of the late U-S Senator Robert Kennedy will reportedly testify in Mr. Skakel's defense.

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A judge ruled in 1998 that there was enough evidence to charge and arrest the now 41-year old Mr. Skakel, for the unsolved murder.

Ms. Moxley's body was found near her home in a wealthy neighborhood in Greenwhich, Connecticut.

Hours earlier, Ms. Moxley had gone out with Mr. Skakel and a group of teenagers to mark the night before Halloween, when many youngsters play pranks.

Author Dominick Dunne has written a novel based on the case. Speaking outside the courthouse, he said that the prosecution's case relies heavily on the murder weapon, which allegedly belonged to Mr. Skakel.

/ / / DUNNE ACT / / /

I think that the main thing that they have that the prosecution has is that the murder weapon, the golf club was from a set of clubs that belonged to the late mother of Michael Skakel.

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Mr. Skakel has pleaded innocent to the charges, but law enforcement authorities say he confessed to the crime more than two decades ago while attending a substance abuse facility.

Members of Ms. Moxley's family say that they are excited to finally have their day in court.

Mr. Skakel was originally charged as a juvenile, but a judge ruled that the case should be transferred to a court which tries adults. The trial is expected to last about one month. If convicted, Mr. Skakel faces a minimum of ten years to life in prison. [SIGNED]

NEB/NYC/JB/SAB