Kennedy cousin asks judge for shorter jailtime

The mother of the teenage girl who Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel was convicted of beating to death with a golf club said Wednesday that more than 35 years later, her family continues to struggle with their loss and Skakel’s legal maneuvering.

Appearing on HLN’s Nancy Grace, Dorthy Moxley said, "It never goes away, never ever goes away, and it just, it makes you more certain that you have to go out there and be on your toes and just, you know, do as much as you can to fight crime."

Skakel, who has always maintained his innocence, was back in court this week arguing for a shorter sentence for his 2002 conviction in the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley. According to the Hartford Courant, Skakel told a panel of judges that he has passed three sodium pentathol tests and he urged them to give him a polygraph to prove he did not kill the 15-year-old Greenwich girl. Sodium pentathol is known as the "truth drug."

In court Tuesday, Skakel turned to face Dorthy Moxley and said he prays for her and her slain daughter every day, NBC’s “Today Show” reported.

Dorthy and John Moxley, Martha’s brother, said in court that they believed Skakel should serve his full 20-year sentence for the murder. Skakel’s attorneys have argued that he should have been tried and sentenced in juvenile court since he was also only 15 when the crime occurred.

“There is no way you can be sure someone is telling the truth,” Dorthy Moxley told Nancy Grace. “Polygraphs don’t work… I believe in the golden rule, treat other people as you know you would like them to treat you, and I believe in the Ten Commandments. And you know, Michael Skakel has broken all of these.”

Don't miss “Nancy Grace” weekdays at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET on HLN or go to HLNtv.com