Last Call

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel, who will get his first parole hearing Wednesday, deserves to be released from prison a decade after he was convicted of killing his neighbor because he was a victim of a miscarriage of justice and has been a model inmate, his supporters say.

But the victim's relatives want Skakel kept in prison the rest of his life, saying he was properly convicted and has shown no remorse.

Skakel is serving 20 years to life for beating Martha Moxley to death with a golf club in 1975 in Greenwich when they were 15-year-old neighbors. Skakel is a nephew of Robert F. Kennedy's widow, Ethel Kennedy.

There's no such thing as a guilty man in prison, right?  Through the decades there was little doubt of Skakel's guilt.  I recall reading the efforts to explore other avenues and suspects, all for nothing.  None of us know if he is truly guilty or not, but the evidence was compelling.

I doubt he has any luck, but he is a Kennedy so all bets are off.