NORWALK, Conn., May 8 (UPI) -- Kennedy kin Michael Skakel's defense attorney Wednesday tried to plant a seed of doubt that his client killed Martha Moxley by asserting that police at one point had drafted an arrest warrant for his Skakel's older brother, Thomas.
Michael Sherman, in the second day at the highly watched trial, asked former Greenwich, Conn., police Capt. Thomas Keegan if he carried an arrest warrant for Thomas Skakel in 1976.
"Yes," Keegan responded. Later outside the courtroom Keegan described Thomas Skakel as a "hot suspect."
Prosecutor Jonathan Benedict confirmed that Greenwich police had applied for an arrest warrant for Thomas Skakel, but said it was irrelevant to the trial.
"That at some point some police officer thought Thomas Skakel committed this murder is not relevant," the prosecutor said.
Benedict said that while police prepared the warrant, then-State's Attorney Donald Brown refused to sign it "because there was not enough information" against the older Skakel.
While Benedict said the warrant application was irrelevant to the prosecution of Michael Skakel, Sherman said it "goes to the integrity and credibility of this investigation."
Sherman also complained that only recently was he told about the warrant application, although he should have been told as part of the discovery process.
Judge John Kavanewsky Jr. allowed the jury to hear testimony about the warrant.
Keegan was the lead investigators in the case at the time, focusing on Thomas Skakel and Skakel family tutor Kenneth Littleton. Keegan said he never sought an arrest warrant for Littleton.
Both Thomas Skakel and Littleton are expected to testify.
Michael Skakel, now 41, is on trial on charges of killing Moxley on Oct. 30, 1975, when both were 15 and living in the same neighborhood in the gated Belle Haven section of Greenwich, Conn.
Prosecutors presented the dead girl's diary Tuesday in an attempt to show that Michael Skakel had a motive to kill her -- jealousy over her flirtation with his older brother.
One entry on Sept. 17, referred to an argument she had with Michael about how he accused her of "leading Tom on."
In the passage, Martha Moxley wrote: "Michael was so totally out of it that he was being a real (expletive) in his actions and words. He kept telling me that I was leading Tom on when I don't like him (except as a friend)."
Dorthy Moxley, Martha's mother, was the first prosecution witness on Tuesday.
She testified that she became frantic after Martha failed to come home as expected the night of Oct. 30, and was horrified when a friend told her the following day that Martha's bloody body had been discovered on the family lawn.
That friend, Sheila McGuire, testified as to finding Martha's body beneath a tree. Several jurors appeared upset when shown explicit photos of the dead girl's body.
Prosecutors allege Martha Moxley was murdered with a custom-made golf club belonging to Skakel's mother.
Benedict suggested in his opening statement that Skakel repeatedly admitted at different times that he killed the girl because, "Sometimes some people simply can't keep a secret."
The prosecution was expected to call several witnesses from the Maine-based Elan School, a substance abuse center Skakel attended in the late-1970s. Benedict said several classmates would testify that Skakel confessed to killing Moxley.
Sherman, however, said the state's case was a jigsaw puzzle in which the "puzzle pieces don't fit." He said prosecutors have "zilch" physical evidence against his client.
Skakel's aunt is Ethel Kennedy, the widow of U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. No Kennedys attended the opening day of the trial.
