# Skakel denied parole today- anybody else question his guilt? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 25, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skakel-denied-parole-today-anybody-else-question-his-guilt/638782 "2012-10-25T01:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skakel-denied-parole-today-anybody-else-question-his-guilt/638782/21 "2013-11-21T23:17:33Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Isn’t it amazing how even though they must have hired the best lawyer money could buy that the lawyer did not represent him effectively? One wonders about the poor slobs represented by public defenders… [Public Defenders can be pretty awful](https://www.aclu.org/capital-punishment/aclu-praises-supreme-court-refusal-sleeping-lawyer-case-acknowledgment-and-remind). > [@](#): > > NEW YORK - This morning the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from Texas authorities who claimed that a man received adequate representation from a lawyer who slept through portions of his trial, which was tainted with anti-gay bias. > > Calvin Burdine’s 1984 conviction was overturned three years ago because his public defender slept through substantial portions of the trial and the sentencing phase. One would think that at least PDs could be relied on to be _conscious_ during the trial, but no… ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skakel-denied-parole-today-anybody-else-question-his-guilt/638782/22 "2013-11-21T23:43:58Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Isn’t it amazing how even though they must have hired the best lawyer money could buy that the lawyer did not represent him effectively? One wonders about the poor slobs represented by public defenders… Price of doing business. Lawyers know that on appeal many clients are going to try to shit on them. Its pretty standard. Especially if there is no grounds on misconduct or improper mistakes from the other side. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > [Public Defenders can be pretty awful](https://www.aclu.org/capital-punishment/aclu-praises-supreme-court-refusal-sleeping-lawyer-case-acknowledgment-and-remind). > > One would think that at least PDs could be relied on to be _conscious_ during the trial, but no… There are shitty prosecutors too. PDs tend to be about the same age and experience as their counter parts and get paid the same. Some spend their entire careers there because of the job security and benefits. Others use it as experience and leave for public practice. Just like assistant prosecutors. ---
**Author:** ![Bartman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bartman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartman)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skakel-denied-parole-today-anybody-else-question-his-guilt/638782/23 "2013-11-22T00:14:38Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Price of doing business. Lawyers know that on appeal many clients are going to try to shit on them. Its pretty standard. Especially if there is no grounds on misconduct or improper mistakes from the other side. Unless I’m mistaken most law firms are willing to support a claim of incompetence as long as the former client is willing to sign an agreement not to push for any official misconduct or a civil suit. In any complex case a lawyer will have to decide on a defense, in lieu of other defenses. They have to choose which evidence to introduce, and which is too distracting to the jury. Having the original lawyer help identify how he might have screwed things up, can be really valuable in an appeal. So it is simply good business for everyone to cooperate. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skakel-denied-parole-today-anybody-else-question-his-guilt/638782/24 "2016-12-30T22:39:27Z")
Bumping the thread again: > [@](#): > > A divided state Supreme Court Friday reinstated the murder conviction of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel, rejecting a Superior Court judge’s finding that Skakel’s trial was tainted by ineffective lawyering and setting the stage for Skakel’s return to prison after three years of freedom. > > “Because we conclude that the petitioner’s trial counsel rendered constitutionally adequate representation, we reverse the judgment” of the lower court, a 4-3 majority of the Supreme Court wrote in a decision released Friday afternoon. > **[Kennedy Cousin Michael Skakel’s Murder Conviction Reinstated](https://www.courant.com/2016/12/30/kennedy-cousin-michael-skakels-murder-conviction-reinstated/)** > > A divided state Supreme Court Friday reinstated the murder conviction of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel, rejecting a Superior Court judge’s finding that Skakel’s trial was tainted by ine… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skakel-denied-parole-today-anybody-else-question-his-guilt/638782.md?page=1)