Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, daughter of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and her husband Andrew Cuomo are getting separated.

NORWALK, Connecticut (CNN) -- With the seating of two jurors Wednesday, half of the jury for Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel's murder trial has now been selected.

Two men who appeared to be in their 40s were chosen, bringing the total to eight. Twelve jurors and four alternates must be selected before testimony begins May 7.

The trial itself is expected to last about five weeks.

Skakel, now 41, has been charged with bludgeoning his neighbor Martha Moxley to death with a golf club October 30, 1975. They were both 15 years old at the time, but Skakel is being tried as an adult for the murder.

One of the jurors chosen Wednesday, a regional director for a restaurant chain, was asked by defense attorney Mickey Sherman his opinion of the O.J. Simpson case. The man said he thought Simpson was guilty but that the verdict in the case was "a result of the inadequate handling of the case by the police."

Sherman accepted the man for the jury.

During the voir dire process, during which both prosecution and defense can question potential jurors individually, Sherman has asked about opinions of high-profile cases like Simpson's. "Do you think defense lawyers like me use smoke and mirrors to get their rich clients off the hook?" Sherman has asked.

Most of the potential jurors have answered no.

State's Attorney Jonathan Benedict has asked potential jurors whether they have a problem with the age of the case and whether they could convict Skakel based on circumstantial, not direct, evidence. At the heart of the prosecution's case are alleged confessions Skakel made to fellow residents of a drug rehab program he attended from 1978-80.

"What do you think about the fact that you will be deciding a case of a person who was 15 years old at the time of the offense?" Benedict has asked jurors.

One potential juror admitted Wednesday he thought Skakel had avoided prosecution until now because of the power and influence of the Kennedy family.

"Had the defendant been of a less wealthy background," the man said, "he might have faced prosecution at an earlier time." He was rejected as a juror for cause by Judge John Kavenewsky.

Skakel is a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Sen. Robert Kennedy.

The second juror chosen Wednesday is a contractor with an interest in forensic science. He expressed some trepidation about serving as a juror, "because you're judging somebody's fate."

Of the jurors selected so far, four are men and four are women.

NORWALK, Connecticut (Court TV) -- People who may end up deliberating the fate of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel are being asked questions on everything from cats and dogs to whether they watch reruns of "I Love Lucy."

But at the heart of the lawyers' questions is whether prospective jurors can truly remain open-minded and fair. Skakel, the 41-year-old nephew of Ethel Kennedy, has been listening intently and conferring frequently with his lawyers in the selection of 12 jurors and four alternates.

"So, do you think he did it?" defense lawyer Mickey Sherman asked several people right out of the gate this week, referring to the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley.

Prosecutor Jonathan Benedict has asked every prospective juror variations of the question, "Would you hold the state to a higher standard than proof beyond a reasonable doubt just because the crime occurred 27 years ago?"

Four days into the process, jury selection is becoming repetitive, but the pattern to the questions is slowly revealing what each lawyer appears to believe will be central issues for the jury.

Jury selection was scheduled to resume Tuesday.

Led by Benedict, prosecution lawyers seem particularly concerned that some people may want the prosecution to prove Skakel's guilt beyond "all doubt" -- not merely beyond a reasonable doubt as required by law.

"My view is that the evidence ... has to be bulletproof," said one man, who also used the word "ironclad" on his 15-page juror questionnaire. He was excused after Benedict argued that the man was apparently not able to follow the judge's instructions on the law.

A retiree who said he preferred "solid evidence" to circumstantial evidence was also excused. A woman who worked for a Stamford law firm said she would want to be absolutely certain -- not just convinced beyond a reasonable doubt -- before finding a defendant guilty. She, too, was excused by the prosecution.

Benedict has also repeatedly pointed out that the state's case against Skakel is a largely circumstantial one. He noted that there is no known eyewitness to Martha's bludgeoning death on Oct. 30, 1975, and that police who conducted the initial investigation did not have the advanced technology for examining materials at the crime scene as that used today.

Benedict asked one candidate if a fictional cat named "Socks" was in a room with a bowl of cereal and the cereal was gone when the man returned from answering the doorbell, could the man conclude that the cat was the culprit?

"I'd have no problem convicting Socks but I'd have to find out where Socks was," the man said, bringing laughter from the gallery.

A middle school teacher also said she'd convict "Socks" based on the circumstantial evidence, but when the defense got its turn, Sherman's associate, Jason Throne threw in a new twist.

"Would you view the evidence any differently if you knew there were other cats in the household?" Throne inquired. The woman said she would view it differently.

The question foreshadowed an anticipated defense strategy. There were plenty of people in the Skakel household and in the neighborhood who could have come across the murder weapon lying on the Skakel lawn, the defense may argue. Thomas Skakel, the defendant's older brother and a possible prosecution witness, was the last person known to have seen Martha alive and was the prime suspect in the crime for many years before the focus shifted to Michael Skakel.

Dogs also got their day as questioning proceeded. Defense lawyer Throne asked the middle school teacher how a Labrador retriever she once owned reacted when a stranger came to the door. "He'd bite them," the woman got out before Judge John Kavanewsky sustained a prosecution objection.

The issue of barking dogs may become important during the trial. The defense, which has listed a veterinarian on its witness list, is expected to argue that the numerous witnesses who heard dogs barking incessantly at about 10 p.m. on the night of the murder suggest the attack on Martha occurred then. Defense witnesses are expected to testify that Skakel was at his cousin's home in another part of Greenwich at about that time.

Sherman is also going to great lengths to make sure that prospective panelists are not trying to get on the jury merely to act on long-held beliefs about Skakel's guilt or innocence. He has asked numerous questions about what jury candidates have read or seen about the case on the many cable TV networks Sherman appears on regularly. He also asked prospective jurors about their TV viewing habits, including crime dramas, news shows featuring information about this case and, mysteriously, "I Love Lucy."

On Friday, a man who has lived in Greenwich 32 years quite candidly responded that he believes Skakel is probably guilty based what he has read or seen.

"So the slate isn't clean?" Sherman asked.

"To be absolutely honest with you, yeah," the man replied, and was excused from service moments later.

But most prospective jurors said they had not followed the case much in the media and could keep an open mind.

Another central theme of the questioning by both sides is the fact that Skakel's father, Rushton Skakel Sr. of Florida, is Ethel Kennedy's brother. The lawyers want to know whether the Kennedy connection, albeit a remote one, will work for or against Skakel or the prosecution.

A 28-year-old merchandiser for Coca-Cola, who was excused because his brother is a uniformed marshal in the courtroom, was asked by Sherman if he could separate all of the pretrial "hype and advertising" about the Kennedys from the real issues.

"There's been a lot of hype, a lot of publicity in this case. But in the end," Sherman said, "we only want you to buy the product." Passing Time

The jury selection process is expected to take two to three weeks to complete. Martha Moxley's mother, Dorthy Moxley of Chattham, New Jersey, has been passing the time sketching potential jurors in a book. She has been taking art lessons and practices by sketching her grandchildren from photographs.

"I find it very interesting," Moxley told reporters in the courtroom, referring to the jury selection process.

Sherman echoed the prevailing view in the 173-seat courtroom.

"You're talking to someone with a short attention span," Sherman said. "Jury picking is not my favorite thing, but I appreciate how important it is."

Prosecutors declined comment.

NORWALK, Connecticut (AP) -- Darien police officer Brian Wood is a friend of an investigator in the 1975 killing of Martha Moxley. A man who once assaulted him was defended by the lawyer representing Moxley's accused killer. And the same lawyer cross-examined Wood's wife in another case.

Despite these connections, Wood was chosen Thursday to be one of the 12 jurors and four alternates in the trial of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel, accused of murdering Moxley.

Skakel's lawyer, Michael Sherman, could have used one of his challenges to reject the officer, and he admits the choice was unorthodox.

"I'm sure the jury experts are lining up to roast me tonight," Sherman said Thursday.

But Sherman said he's known the officer for years and found him to be compassionate in the assault case.

Skakel, 41, is charged with murder in the beating death of Greenwich teen-ager Martha Moxley. Both Skakel and Moxley were 15 at the time. If convicted, Skakel could face life in prison.

While jury selection continued, Emanuel Margolis, an attorney for Skakel's elderly father, said Rushton Skakel, 77, cannot offer meaningful testimony because he recently underwent prostate surgery and suffers from dementia.

Margolis said Michael Skakel's brother, Thomas, will likely testify. Thomas Skakel was the last person seen with Moxley, and was an early suspect in the slaying.

Moxley was bludgeoned with a golf club traced to a set owned by Rushton Skakel's first wife, who had died of cancer in 1973. Rushton Skakel's sister is Ethel Kennedy, widow of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.

NORWALK, Connecticut -- Two jurors were seated Tuesday for the long-awaited murder trial of Ethel Kennedy's nephew, Michael Skakel.

A 40-something man who described himself as an investment officer for a startup company and a woman who appeared to be in her 30s were the first panel members selected as this highly anticipated case opened to widespread media attention.

Lawyers aim to pick 12 jurors and four alternates who will be asked not to be swayed by the fact that Skakel, now 41, is a member of one of the nation's most-famous families.

Jurors are being screened in groups of about 25, and at the close of the court day Tuesday, several men and women from the initial pool of Fairfield County, Connecticut, residents were excused by state Superior Court Judge John Kavanewsky Jr.

One man said he had a hearing loss; another has trouble speaking English; others had child-care issues. Four of the 13 people excused complained that it would create a severe hardship for them or their businesses if they were to be on a jury for the five weeks the trial is expected to last.

The man who was selected -- names of the jurors are not released -- made it clear he did not want to serve. The man, who appeared to be in his 40s, said he had just started a job with a company that opened for business Monday.

Skakel, who was charged in January 2000 with the murder of his 15-year-old neighbor, Martha Moxley, 26 years ago last October, walked through a sea of video and still cameras waiting to capture his arrival at Norwalk Superior Court Tuesday morning.

"Good morning, how are you?" Skakel, 41, said to two courthouse marshals as he entered the courthouse, ignoring reporters clamoring for a comment. Inside Kavanewsky's courtroom, Skakel greeted a few faces he recognized in the crowd.

It is here that prosecutors will try to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Skakel killed Martha Moxley on October 30, 1975, in their affluent Greenwich, Conn., neighborhood. Moxley's badly bludgeoned body was found by a friend on her family's three-acre estate.

Prosecutors believe Skakel used a six-iron from his late mother's monogrammed golf club set to crush her skull. Skakel allegedly confessed he killed Moxley to classmates at a Maine reform school in the late 1970s.

Skakel, who has been out on bail since his 2000 arrest, lost a bid to have the case remain in juvenile court. He has pleaded not guilty, denying any involvement in Moxley's slaying.

The case has generated widespread publicity and inspired a television mini-series and best-selling books, including one by celebrity crime writer Dominick Dunne and another by former O.J. Simpson detective Mark Fuhrman.

More than 70 news organizations have reserved seats in the trial gallery.

By law, the prosecution and defense each get 18 peremptory challenges -- meaning they can dismiss a potential juror without giving a reason. So far, the prosecution has used two challenges, the defense one.

The prosecution noted while questioning several prospective jurors that the complaint alleges that Moxley was killed between 9:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. Benedict asked several if they could find Skakel guilty even if the exact time of the assault could not be pinned down.

The defense is expected to argue that numerous reports about incessantly barking dogs in Belle Haven, where the murder occurred, suggests that the assault occurred about 10 p.m. -- when Skakel claims he was at the home of his cousin, James Terrien.

Terrien's name was among 21 who may called by the defense later. The list, read in court by Skakel's lawyer, Mickey Sherman, also includes: Courtney Kennedy, daughter of Ethel Skakel Kennedy and the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy; her husband, Paul Hill, who was jailed as a suspected Irish Republican Army terrorist for 15 years before a British court ruled his confession was fabricated; Edward Fleischl, a veterinarian from Pound Ridge, New York; several of Skakel's siblings; and, Jack Solomon, a former state investigator who pursued the Skakel's live-in tutor, Kenneth Littleton, as a possible suspect early in the Moxley investigation.

The prosecution's list, read by Benedict, includes: Littleton, who has immunity from prosecution; the former babysitter of the late Michael Kennedy, who was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with her; the Skakel family's former driver; and, numerous police officers and relatives of both Martha and Michael Skakel. Thomas Skakel, the defendant's brother, will be called by the prosecution. For years, he was a prime suspect by virtue of the fact that he was the last person known to have been with Martha when she alive.

Prosecutors declined comment and said they would not comment about any aspect of the case now that the trial has begun. Skakel's lawyer, however, is known to enjoy the spotlight and was surrounded by journalists both in and outside the courthouse.

"Mickey, how are you going to find jurors who are sympathetic to Michael Skakel?" a voice in the crowd asked.

"I don't care if they're sympathetic to Michael Skakel," Sherman shot back tersely. "I just want them to be fair to Michael Skakel."

Martha Moxley's mother, Dorthy, and brother, John, did not attend court on Tuesday but are expected on Wednesday. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has told reporters that he and several of Michael Skakel's Kennedy cousins will attend the proceedings at some point.

Jury selection was scheduled to resume Wednesday. Testimony begins May 7.

NORWALK, Connecticut (Court TV) -- Two jurors were seated Tuesday for the long-awaited murder trial of Ethel Kennedy's nephew, Michael Skakel.

On Tuesday, a 40-something man who described himself as an investment officer for a startup company and a woman who appeared to be in her 30s were the first panel members selected as this highly anticipated case opened to widespread media attention.

Jurors are being screened in groups of about 25, and at the close of the court day Tuesday, several men and women from the initial pool of Fairfield County, Connecticut, residents were excused by state Superior Court Judge John Kavanewsky Jr.

One man said he had a hearing loss; another has trouble speaking English; others had child-care issues. Four of the 13 people excused complained that it would create a severe hardship for them or their businesses if they were to be on a jury for the five weeks the trial is expected to last.

The man who was selected -- names of the jurors are not released -- made it clear he did not want to serve. The man, who appeared to be in his 40s, said he had just started a job with a company that opened for business Monday.

Skakel, who was charged in January 2000 with the murder of his 15-year-old neighbor, Martha Moxley, 26 years ago last October, walked through a sea of video and still cameras waiting to capture his arrival at Norwalk Superior Court Tuesday morning.

"Good morning, how are you?" Skakel, 41, said to two courthouse marshals as he entered the courthouse, ignoring reporters clamoring for a comment. Inside Kavanewsky's courtroom, Skakel greeted a few faces he recognized in the crowd.

It is here that prosecutors will try to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Skakel killed Martha Moxley on Oct. 30, 1975, in their affluent Greenwich, Connecticut, neighborhood. Moxley's badly bludgeoned body was found by a friend on her family's three-acre estate.

Prosecutors believe Skakel used a six-iron from his late mother's monogrammed golf club set to crush her skull. Skakel allegedly confessed he killed Moxley to classmates at a Maine reform school in the late 1970s.

Skakel, who has been out on bail since his 2000 arrest, lost a bid to have the case remain in juvenile court. He has pleaded not guilty, denying any involvement in Moxley's slaying.

The case has generated widespread publicity and inspired a television mini-series and best-selling books, including one by celebrity crime writer Dominick Dunne and another by former O.J. Simpson detective Mark Fuhrman.

More than 70 news organizations have reserved seats in the trial gallery.

By law, the prosecution and defense each get 18 peremptory challenges -- meaning they can dismiss a potential juror without giving a reason. So far, the prosecution has used two challenges, the defense one.

The prosecution noted while questioning several prospective jurors that the complaint alleges that Moxley was killed between 9:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. Benedict asked several if they could find Skakel guilty even if the exact time of the assault could not be pinned down.

The defense is expected to argue that numerous reports about incessantly barking dogs in Belle Haven, where the murder occurred, suggests that the assault occurred about 10 p.m. -- when Skakel claims he was at the home of his cousin, James Terrien.

Terrien's name was among 21 who may called by the defense later. The list, read in court by Skakel's lawyer, Mickey Sherman, also includes: Courtney Kennedy, daughter of Ethel Skakel Kennedy and the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy; her husband, Paul Hill, who was jailed as a suspected Irish Republican Army terrorist for 15 years before a British court ruled his confession was fabricated; Edward Fleischl, a veterinarian from Pound Ridge, New York; several of Skakel's siblings; and, Jack Solomon, a former state investigator who pursued the Skakel's live-in tutor, Kenneth Littleton, as a possible suspect early in the Moxley investigation.

The prosecution's list, read by Benedict, includes: Littleton, who has immunity from prosecution; the former babysitter of the late Michael Kennedy, who was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with her; the Skakel family's former driver; and, numerous police officers and relatives of both Martha and Michael Skakel. Thomas Skakel, the defendant's brother, will be called by the prosecution. For years, he was a prime suspect by virtue of the fact that he was the last person known to have been with Martha when she alive.

Prosecutors declined comment and said they would not comment about any aspect of the case now that the trial has begun. Skakel's lawyer, however, is known to enjoy the spotlight and was surrounded by journalists both in and outside the courthouse.

"Mickey, how are you going to find jurors who are sympathetic to Michael Skakel?" a voice in the crowd asked.

"I don't care if they're sympathetic to Michael Skakel," Sherman shot back tersely. "I just want them to be fair to Michael Skakel."

Martha Moxley's mother, Dorthy, and brother, John, did not attend court on Tuesday but are expected on Wednesday. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has told reporters that he and several of Michael Skakel's Kennedy cousins will attend the proceedings at some point.

NORWALK, Connecticut (CNN) -- Jury selection began Tuesday in Connecticut for the trial of Michael Skakel, nephew of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy and who is charged with the murder of a teen-age girl 26 years ago.

Prospective jurors arrived at the Norwalk, Connecticut, Superior Court Tuesday morning, The Associated Press reported.

Martha Moxley, Skakel's 15-year-old neighbor, was found bludgeoned to death with a golf club outside her home in affluent Greenwich, Connecticut, on October 31, 1975.

Skakel, now 41 and the nephew of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy, was charged with the crime in January 2000, largely on the strength of witnesses who said he either admitted to killing Moxley or said he could have killed her in an alcohol-induced blackout.

Skakel's attorney, Mickey Sherman, said he would use the prosecution's own expert witnesses to disprove their case.

"If we knew and if he knew (who killed Moxley), he would be the first one to rat the person out, no matter who it was," Sherman said. "He doesn't know, he wasn't there, he didn't do it, he had no part in it, and he has no knowledge of it."

Two new twists are expected to highlight the trial: For the first time, a jury may hear Michael Skakel's voice on tape describing his sexual attraction to the slain girl, and Michael's brother, Tommy, once a chief suspect, may testify about his actions the night of the murder. He has never testified under oath about the case.

The unsolved case languished for more than two decades until a judge was named in June 1998 to act as a one-man investigative grand jury. He ruled in January that there was enough evidence to charge Skakel with murder. Skakel, now a Florida resident, was then arrested and released on $500,000 bond.

The night before the murder, Michael, then 15, and his brother Tommy, then 17, had gone to dinner at a country club and then returned home, where they met up with Martha and a group of friends. It was "Devil's Night," when many neighborhood teens play pranks and stay out late.

According to police reports, Tommy was the last person seen with Martha, about 9:30 p.m. October 30.

After the body was discovered around 12:30 p.m. the next day, police searched the neighborhood, including the Skakel house, where they found a set of rare Tony Penna golf clubs, the type used to beat Martha to death. The six-iron, which police now consider the murder weapon, was missing.

Though pieces of a six-iron, including the head, were found in the vicinity of the body, a key part of the handle -- which in the set found in the Skakel house was monogrammed with the initials of Michael Skakel's late mother, Anne -- has never been found.

Tommy Skakel remained a suspect for years, until Michael was charged.

Report may provide argument for prosecution

A key development came in 1995, when a report commissioned by the Skakel family from the Sutton Associates private detective firm was leaked to the press.

The report said Michael and Tommy admitted lying to police about their actions the night Moxley died. Michael also made revelations that put him at the scene of the crime.

Michael said he had initially gone home after visiting his cousin, James Terrien, but he went back outside and climbed the tree outside Martha Moxley's house and masturbated while looking in the window.

Skakel may have complicated his own defense in 1997 by collaborating on a book proposal with ghostwriter Richard Hoffman called "Dead Man Talking: A Kennedy Cousin Comes Clean."

In the proposal, Michael admitted to using alcohol and marijuana on the night Martha was killed, and said he was sexually attracted to her.

"I wanted to kiss her. I wanted her to be my girlfriend, but I was going slow, being careful. The truth is that with Martha I felt a little shy. I thought that maybe if we spent the evening together at my cousin's something romantic might develop between us," Michael said in the draft proposal.

At the heart of the prosecution's case are the alleged confessions Michael made in the years immediately after the murder at the Elan rehabilitation center in Poland Springs, Maine, where Michael was sent in 1978 after a drunk-driving conviction.

But one key witness from Elan will not be able to testify: former resident Gregory Coleman, who died of a heroin overdose shortly after grand jury testimony in the case last year.

Coleman testified Skakel told him he was "going to get away with murder," and said Skakel described how he "drove her skull in," apparently with a golf club.

Coleman later testified that he had been under the influence of cocaine and heroin while testifying before the grand jury.

Two other key witnesses have also died in the years since Moxley's death.

Skakel was originally charged in juvenile court. But on January 31, 2001, Judge Maureen Dennis ruled the case should be transferred to adult court because, she said, there were no juvenile facilities available in Connecticut to accommodate a middle-aged defendant.

The Connecticut Supreme Court later upheld Dennis' ruling.

In juvenile court, Skakel would have faced a maximum sentence of four years in a rehabilitative facility, as opposed to a minimum sentence of 10 years to life in prison if convicted as an adult.

NORWALK, Connecticut (CNN) -- Jury selection begins Tuesday in the trial of Michael Skakel, charged with the murder of his teen-age neighbor 26 years ago.

Martha Moxley, Skakel's 15-year-old neighbor, was found bludgeoned to death with a golf club outside her home in affluent Greenwich, Connecticut, on October 31, 1975.

Skakel, now 41 and the nephew of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy, was charged with the crime in January 2000, largely on the strength of witnesses who said he either admitted to killing Moxley or said he could have killed her in an alcohol-induced blackout.

Skakel's attorney, Mickey Sherman, told CNN he would use the prosecution's own expert witnesses to disprove their case.

"If we knew and if he knew (who killed Moxley), he would be the first one to rat the person out, no matter who it was," Sherman said. "He doesn't know, he wasn't there, he didn't do it, he had no part in it, and he has no knowledge of it."

Two new twists are expected to highlight the trial: For the first time, a jury may hear Michael Skakel's voice on tape describing his sexual attraction to the slain girl, and Michael's brother, Tommy, once a chief suspect, may testify about his actions the night of the murder. He has never testified under oath about the case.

The unsolved case languished for more than two decades until a judge was named in June 1998 to act as a one-man investigative grand jury. He ruled in January that there was enough evidence to charge Skakel with murder. Skakel, now a Florida resident, was then arrested and released on $500,000 bond.

The night before the murder, Michael, then 15, and his brother Tommy, then 17, had gone to dinner at a country club and then returned home, where they met up with Martha and a group of friends. It was "Devil's Night," when many neighborhood teens play pranks and stay out late.

According to police reports, Tommy was the last person seen with Martha, about 9:30 p.m. October 30.

After the body was discovered around 12:30 p.m. the next day, police searched the neighborhood, including the Skakel house, where they found a set of rare Tony Penna golf clubs, the type used to beat Martha to death. The six-iron, which police now consider the murder weapon, was missing.

Though pieces of a six-iron, including the head, were found in the vicinity of the body, a key part of the handle -- which in the set found in the Skakel house was monogrammed with the initials of Michael Skakel's late mother, Anne -- has never been found.

Tommy Skakel remained a suspect for years, until Michael was charged.

Report may provide argument for prosecution

A key development came in 1995, when a report commissioned by the Skakel family from the Sutton Associates private detective firm was leaked to the press.

The report said Michael and Tommy admitted lying to police about their actions the night Moxley died. Michael also made revelations that put him at the scene of the crime.

Michael said he had initially gone home after visiting his cousin, James Terrien, but he went back outside and climbed the tree outside Martha Moxley's house and masturbated while looking in the window.

Skakel may have complicated his own defense in 1997 by collaborating on a book proposal with ghostwriter Richard Hoffman called "Dead Man Talking: A Kennedy Cousin Comes Clean."

In the proposal, Michael admitted to using alcohol and marijuana on the night Martha was killed, and said he was sexually attracted to her.

"I wanted to kiss her. I wanted her to be my girlfriend, but I was going slow, being careful. The truth is that with Martha I felt a little shy. I thought that maybe if we spent the evening together at my cousin's something romantic might develop between us," Michael said in the draft proposal.

At the heart of the prosecution's case are the alleged confessions Michael made in the years immediately after the murder at the Elan rehabilitation center in Poland Springs, Maine, where Michael was sent in 1978 after a drunk-driving conviction.

But one key witness from Elan will not be able to testify: former resident Gregory Coleman, who died of a heroin overdose shortly after grand jury testimony in the case last year.

Coleman testified Skakel told him he was "going to get away with murder," and said Skakel described how he "drove her skull in," apparently with a golf club.

Coleman later testified that he had been under the influence of cocaine and heroin while testifying before the grand jury.

Two other key witnesses have also died in the years since Moxley's death.

Skakel was originally charged in juvenile court. But on January 31, 2001, Judge Maureen Dennis ruled the case should be transferred to adult court because, she said, there were no juvenile facilities available in Connecticut to accommodate a middle-aged defendant.

The Connecticut Supreme Court later upheld Dennis' ruling.

In juvenile court, Skakel would have faced a maximum sentence of four years in a rehabilitative facility, as opposed to a minimum sentence of 10 years to life in prison if convicted as an adult.

(Court TV) -- In the 26 years since 15-year-old Martha Moxley was found bludgeoned to death on her own lawn, the list of suspects has included a pair of brothers, a tutor and even a gardener.

There was Kenneth Littleton, the live-in tutor for the Skakel family, Kennedy family relatives who lived next door to the Moxleys in a wealthy enclave in Greenwich, Connecticut. One theory surmised that a transient wandered into the area and attacked the girl.

It would take authorities a quarter of a century to zero in on one suspect, Michael Skakel, the then-15-year-old son of industrialist Rushton Skakel, the brother of Ethel Skakel Kennedy. Now that Skakel's trial is set to begin next month, prosecutors will attempt to limit the testimony of previous suspects that could potentially raise doubt in the minds of the jury.

Included in pre-trial motions expected to be filed next week by prosecutors, according to a source in the prosecutor's office, is a motion to bar the defense from questioning two previous suspects -- Littleton, and Skakel's older brother, Thomas -- about the results of polygraph tests they took years ago.

Skakel's defense lawyer, Mickey Sherman, is, understandably, opposed to any such limitations.

"Generally once someone takes the stand, most judges allow a wide latitude for cross-examination and certainly anything that bears on their credibility is often fair game," Sherman said. Lead prosecutor Jonathan Benedict declined to comment on the pending motions.

The issue is unchartered territory as far as Connecticut case law goes. Connecticut, like most states, prohibits the results of a defendant's polygraph test from being admitted in court but there is no precedent for admitting evidence about other witnesses' polygraphs to impeach their credibility.

Skakel pleaded not guilty in February 2001 to a charge he committed the brutal killing the night before Halloween in 1975 in the gated community of Belle Haven, a section of affluent Greenwich. The popular teen was killed with a golf club from the Skakel family's collection.

Many years, many suspects

Sherman has argued that the jury should be able to hear about the efforts of Greenwich detectives who over the years focused on Littleton and Thomas Skakel, and a theory that a transient picked up a golf club from the Skakel lawn and killed Martha.

Specifically, Sherman would like the jury to hear about the results of polygraph tests given to Littleton and Thomas Skakel shortly after the 1975 murder.

Littleton reportedly appeared to be lying or hiding something during four polygraph examinations police conducted over the years. Thomas Skakel was the last person to be seen with Martha while she was alive and was subjected to a polygraph examination that was inconclusive, according to published reports.

Before he died last year, retired Greenwich police Detective Stephen Carroll told the producers of a Court TV documentary on the case that Littleton appeared to be lying or hiding something when he was hooked up to the polygraph machine. "It really wasn't precise as the needles go but they knew he was lying, or probably more evasive," Carroll said at the time.

Littleton got immunity before testifying before a grand jury but Thomas Skakel did not. Both deny any involvement in the crime.

The law

Though polygraphs are commonly used as investigative tools, the results of polygraph tests have long fallen out of favor with the courts as admissible evidence because the machines have been considered unreliable as detectors of truthfulness.

The Supreme Court refused in April 1998 to hear the separate appeals of two Connecticut men -- convicted arsonist Christian Porter and convicted robber Russell Hunter -- who complained that polygraph evidence barred from their trials could have cleared them. The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled the previous year in Porter's case that polygraph results should be barred from criminal and civil trials because it tended to be unreliable and would only confuse juries.

"Mickey Sherman I know will make this argument ... It is hypocritical for the state to rely on witnesses who have failed polygraphs when the whole purpose of administering polygraphs was to see if they have credibility," said former federal prosecutor M. Hatch Norris of Hartford, Connecticut, who represented Porter in the landmark case.

"It opens the door for Mickey to say the state isn't really looking for the truth, they're picking and choosing what they want to use," Norris said.

Despite Superior Court Judge John Kavanewsky's ruling last year that the prosecution did not have to turn over documents and any tapes it may have concerning polygraph examinations, Sherman said Benedict has given him what he asked for in the discovery process.

"I have everything," Sherman said, declining to say what he has received specifically. Sherman declined to disclose whether Michael Skakel, now 41, was ever subjected to a polygraph test.

Mark Fuhrman, the former detective in the O.J. Simpson case who wrote a best-selling book that pointed the finger at Michael Skakel, said he doubts the defense will succeed given the prevailing thought of judges on the reliability of polygraph tests.

"I think the issue has been beaten to death. Littleton's [results] were inconclusive," Fuhrman said. "I don't know what the defense will say about it because so were one of Tommy Skakel's."

Kavanewsky, the trial judge, is also expected to be asked to rule on how extensively the defense can present evidence of other possible suspects and whether transcripts of pre-trial testimony from a deceased prosecution witness will be admitted as evidence.

The witness, Gregory Coleman, claimed before he died of a heroin overdose last year that Michael Skakel confessed to killing Martha when Coleman and Skakel were enrolled in a Maine reform school in the late 1970s. Sherman said either he will seek to bar the transcripts in a pre-trial motion or the prosecution will seek to have them admitted. In either event, he expects the issue will be dealt with prior to the start of testimony.

If Skakel loses his bid to bring up other witnesses' polygraph examinations and is found guilty of Martha's killing, the issue would likely end up in an appeal file, along with the issue of which court had jurisdiction over the case. Skakel lost pre-trial bids to be tried as a juvenile and to have the case dismissed based on the defense's position that the statute of limitations ran out in 1980.

Testimony is scheduled to begin May 7.

-- By John Springer, Court TV

(Court TV) -- Mickey Sherman, a flamboyant criminal defense lawyer and darling of the cable news networks, receives letters daily from wannabe legal eagles hoping to join the team defending Michael Skakel during the Kennedy cousin's upcoming murder trial.

But Sherman, who is based in Stamford, Connecticut, has a full roster. He drafted his 28-year-old son, Mark Sherman, this week to help with the mountain of details that have to be overcome before jury selection begins April 2.

Skakel, the 41-year-old nephew of the late U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy Sr., is being tried as an adult for the 1975 murder of Greenwich, Connecticut, neighbor Martha Moxley. Both were 15 years old at the time.

Mark Sherman, who was 2 years old when Martha was brutally beaten and stabbed to death with a golf club linked to a set from the Skakel household, is not the only Generation Xer on team Skakel. Jason Throne, also 28, was recruited by Mickey Sherman soon after Skakel surrendered to authorities on Jan. 19, 2000, after learning of an arrest warrant.

"This is actually my first murder case. An interesting way to get your feet wet," Throne said during an interview. "To be honest with you, I don't feel overwhelmed. It is a challenge. I love Michael and I've gotten to know him over two years, making it even more exciting to be a part of it."

Headed by an image-conscious veteran known for warming up to juries, the young team has its work cut out for it. The defense will be trying to deflect any suggestion of guilt offered to the jury through testimony by a seasoned squad of prosecutors who maintain Skakel confessed to killing Martha while at a Maine reform school in the late 1970s.

Sitting at the prosecution table will be Bridgeport State's Attorney Jonathan Benedict, Assistant State's Attorney Susan Gill and Deputy Chief State's Attorney Christopher Morano. Prosecution investigator Frank Garr, whose involvement in the case started when he was a Greenwich police detective, will also be backing up the prosecution team in the courtroom.

So will this much-anticipated trial be a mismatch? That remains to be seen, of course. The prosecution team does have a wealth of experience, but it also has something Skakel does not — the burden of proving the charge beyond a reasonable and getting 12 jurors to agree unanimously.

A matter of trust

Mickey Sherman knows some pundits will question his decision to have two young lawyers at his side during the trial. He shrugs it off the way anyone who chooses the public spotlight learns to after awhile.

Sherman realizes he is a better communicator than organizer, so he picked two detail-oriented assistants for the important job of arranging exhibits and lining up witnesses. Organization becomes even important for a lawyer when defending a client against a charge stemming from a crime committed 26 years ago.

"[Mark's] a detail guy. I'm certainly a big picture person and I need someone to make sure all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed," Mickey Sherman said. "Jason bridges the gap between us."

Mark Sherman grew up in Stamford, went to local schools and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in English in 1995. He received his law degree in 1998 from Fordham Law School in New York, where he was president of the student government.

Mark Sherman worked from 1998 to 2000 for Prior Cashman Sherman & Flynn, a New York firm that specializes in entertainment and intellectual property law. From 2000 to last year, Sherman oversaw litigation as in-house counsel for a New York company that owned radio production companies.

He has never tried a murder case, but Mark Sherman said he is up to the challenge.

"I have been following the case closely for three or four years. I have been following the story in the papers since the '80s," said Mark Sherman, whose father was retained by Skakel in 1998. "I've met Michael [Skakel] and he's a great person. I really believe in his innocence and really believe we can do it."

Skakel could probably afford any legal team he wanted, but he wanted Mickey Sherman. And the affable, mince-no-words criminal defense specialist is placing a great amount of trust in his son and associates Throne and Stefan Seeger.

"Mickey's a superb attorney. All you have to do is see him perform on FOX, CNN and Court TV. He is well-regarded," said Benjamin Works, who grew up near the Skakels in the affluent enclave of Belle Haven and has known the family for 40 years. "It's clear he is a professional and knows the case inside out. I believe the family has every confidence in him."

During the trial, Sherman will do most of the talking — both in front of the jury and before the media pen being set up outside Norwalk Superior Court for the throng of reporters and photojournalists expected to cover the sensational case. Throne, who will sit in the second chair, will assist Sherman, prepare witnesses and may question some. Mark Sherman will also sit at the defense table and will keep track of exhibits, research motions and help schedule witnesses.

"Trust is really important in a case like this," said Mark Sherman, referring to the insatiable appetite of reporters for any tidbit about the Martha Moxley murder saga. "I think that's why my father has me and Jason working for him. Trust is a really big factor when it comes to who is going to be at the table."

Ron Fischetti, a New York lawyer who served as mentor to Mark Sherman, said the value of youthful energy and dedication to a cause should not be underestimated.

"I taught Mark at Fordham Law School and prior to that knew him as Mickey's son. He's extremely bright, extremely energetic and is a perfect fit for this trial," said Fischetti, who represents one of the former New York City police officers whose conviction in the Abner Louima police torture case was overturned recently.

"You want people that you can trust and people who believe in your client," Fischetti said. "I would go for dedicated and energetic people over seasoned people any day. Mickey is seasoned enough to handle the defense."

All in the family

Throne and Mark Sherman are new colleagues, but old friends. Throne graduated from the University of Florida School of Law in 1999 and became friends there with Sherman's future wife, Rachel, whose mother is a Broward County Family Court judge.

Throne worked in Mickey Sherman's law office during the summer of 1997 and was working for a firm in Florida for just nine days when he got a call from the elder Sherman in January 2000 requesting that he pack his bags.

"He said, 'Come on up here. Try the Skakel case with me,'" recalled Throne.

For his nuts-and-bolts legal research needs, Mickey Sherman will tap Seeger, a lawyer who rents space in his Stamford office suite.

"This ain't no 'Dream Team' but I see it as an effective one," said Mickey Sherman, referring to the high-price, big-name lawyers who won an acquittal for former NFL football great O.J. Simpson at his double-murder trial.

"I don't see it as a competition of resumes or experience," Sherman continued. "What is important is ability, interest and the will to prevail here. And most importantly, the one thing the four of us share is our belief in Michael Skakel."

Testimony is scheduled to begin May 7 and the trial is expected to last six weeks.

-- By John Springer, Court TV

NORWALK, Connecticut (CNN) -- Michael Skakel's brother and father are expected to testify at his trial next month for the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley, Skakel family lawyer Emmanuel Margolis said.

Michael's older brother, Thomas, once a prime suspect in the beating death of Moxley, will take the stand in the high-profile trial.

Michael Skakel, 41, was arrested in January 2000 for the 1975 murder of Moxley when they were both 15 years old and neighbors. Moxley was found bludgeoned to death with a golf club outside her home in the affluent Greenwich community of Bell Haven.

Jury selection begins April 2 in Norwalk. The trial was moved there last month after authorities determined that construction on the Stamford courthouse would not be completed by then. Opening arguments are scheduled to begin May 7.

Michael Skakel's father, Rushton, is also expected to be called by prosecutors. Asked about Rushton's mental state, Margolis said Rushton has a "frontal lobe problem" that impairs his "cognitive functions."

Margolis represented Thomas Skakel more than 25 years ago during the original investigation. After a one-judge grand jury named Michael Skakel the chief suspect, Margolis submitted Thomas' hair samples to prosecutors in an effort to have him cleared. But state prosecutors have not done so.

Last month, prosecutors requested DNA samples from Michael Skakel, according to his attorney, Mickey Sherman. Although Sherman agreed to comply with the request, prosecutors quickly withdrew it for unspecified reasons.

Also on the witness list is Ken Littleton, the former Skakel tutor who was an early suspect in the case, had an alibi and cooperated with authorities. He was granted immunity after testifying before a grand jury whose investigation led to the arrest of Michael Skakel in January, 2000.

"He's historically maintained his innocence and continues to do so today," said Littleton's attorney, Gene Riccio. "This thing has obviously been a traumatic event for him. While I don't think this will be a pleasant experience for him, he will testify if asked."

After several judicial rulings, including a decision to move the case from juvenile to adult court, the trial appears headed to begin as scheduled.

Margolis is also on the prosecution witness list, but said he expects attorney-client privilege to preclude him from testifying.

-- From CNN's Deborah Feyerick and Ronni Berke

STAMFORD, Connecticut (CNN) -- A superior court judge Tuesday denied a motion by Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel to dismiss his case in the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley on the basis of statute of limitations.

Michael Skakel

The statute limited the length of time prosecutors had to bring any charge not punishable by death. Connecticut did not have the death penalty at the time of the murder.

The law was repealed by the Connecticut legislature in 1976.

"The correct analysis of the issue presented gives great regard to the gravity of the offense charged, not solely its punishment," Kavenewsky wrote.

"Connecticut precedents show that the gravity of the offense charged here, the crime of murder, has been historically unquestioned."

The judge scheduled a chambers conference with both sides in the case in Norwalk December 19 to determine a trial date.

"I always believed [the statute of limitations] was a viable issue, but I appreciate how difficult it would be for the judge to dismiss the case on what people would perceive to be a technicality," said Michael Sherman, Skakel's attorney.

Skakel, 41, was arrested in January 2000 for the 1975 murder of Moxley when they were both 15 years old and neighbors. Moxley was found bludgeoned to death with a golf club outside her home in an affluent Greenwich community.

Skakel was originally charged as a juvenile. But on January 31, Judge Maureen Dennis ruled the case should be transferred to adult court because, she said, there were no juvenile facilities available in Connecticut to accommodate a middle-age defendant.

The Connecticut State supreme Court upheld the decision in September.

Court to dismiss the case against Skakel on the basis of statute of limitations.

Martha Moxley

Yesterday, traces of anthrax have been found, in small quantity, in the office of democratic senators Christopher Dodd, from Connecticut and Ted Kennedy, from Massachussetts. Their offices are located in the Russell Building, beside Capitol Hill.

Dr John Eishold, doctor in chief for the Congress, said that there was no medical threat. This is probably explanable by cross contamination with poisoned letters, said Dan Nichols, spokesman for the security force for the Congress.

In an announcement, Senator Kennedy has also indicated that it was a small quantity of anthrax and that it probably came from contamination with a poisoned letter coming from the postal system.

HARTFORD, Connecticut (CNN) -- Connecticut's highest court Monday rejected an appeal by Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel, who wanted to be tried in juvenile court for the murder of teen-age neighbor 26 years ago.

The unanimous decision by the Connecticut State Supreme Court paves the way for a trial in the case in Stamford Superior Court sometime early next year, prosecutors said.

Monday's decision upholds a juvenile court judge's decision transferring the case from juvenile to adult court.

"The dispositive issue in this appeal is whether an order transferring jurisdiction from the juvenile matters division of the trial court to the regular criminal docket of the Superior Court is an appealable final judgment," the state Supreme Court wrote in its ruling. "We conclude that it is not. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal."

Separately, the defense has filed a request in Stamford Superior Court to dismiss the case against Skakel on the basis of statute of limitations.

Skakel, 41, was arrested in January 2000 for the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley, when they were both 15 years old and neighbors. Moxley was found bludgeoned to death with a golf club outside her home in an affluent Greenwich community.

Skakel was originally charged as a juvenile. But on January 31, Judge Maureen Dennis ruled the case should be transferred to adult court because she said there were no juvenile facilities available in Connecticut to accommodate a middle-aged defendant.

Skakel's attorney downplayed Monday's decision denying his appeal. "This is not a devastating blow," attorney Mickey Sherman said. "We always knew there would be a trial."

The high court said Judge Dennis's ruling was not appealable, since the transfer was not a final judgment in the case. That left a small window open for the defense to re-appeal, should Skakel be convicted.

Prosecutor Jonathan Benedict said he was not surprised by the Supreme Court's decision. "We expected the ruling to fall this way … we're ready to go," he said.

"It's exciting. It's very positive," said Moxley's brother, John Moxley. "It's exactly what we'd hoped for."

In juvenile court, Skakel would have faced a maximum sentence of four years in a rehabilitative facility, as opposed to a minimum sentence 10 years to life or maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison if convicted as an adult.

In a separate judicial procedure, Stamford Presiding Criminal Court Judge John Kavenewsky is expected to rule at a later time on a separate defense motion to dismiss the case, citing a statute of limitations on non-capital murder that was in effect at the time of the killing.

The law, which was repealed by the Connecticut Legislature in 1976, placed a statute of limitations on all charges not punishable by death. Connecticut did not have the death penalty at the time of the murder.

In an August hearing, Benedict argued against dismissal, saying "murder is murder."

Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel surrenders to authorities in January 2000.

-- From CNN Producer Ronni Berke