Court TV Host: We're going to be talking live online to Dominick Dunne, the best-selling author and celebrated columnist for Vanity Fair, who now brings his singular perspective to the new Court TV series Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege and Justice.

Court TV Host: Our guest, Dominick Dunne, is here. Mr. Dunne, thank you for being our guest today.

Dominick Dunne: I'm very happy to be here.

Question from tipperco: Mr. Dunne, is it difficult to maintain an emotional distance from the cases you follow, and if so how do you deal with it?

Dominick Dunne: Very often I do not maintain an emotional distance. In fact, MOST often. I become personally involved with most of the cases that I cover.

Question from van: When in the last 20 some years did you feel that Michael instead of Tommy Skakel was the person who murdered Martha Moxely?

Dominick Dunne: I did not even think of Michael Skakel until a report called "The Sutton Report," which had been commissioned by the father Skakel to clear the name of his son Tommy, who had been the chief suspect for years. The Sutton Agency was a group of private detectives who signed confidentiality oaths when they went on the case for Mr. Skakel. It was one of the great ironies of this story that the private detectives hired by Mr. Skakel were the ones who first discovered that it was Michael, not Tommy, who had committed the murder. The report took three years and cost $750,000. Right after it was presented, the money was paid, the project was called off, but there was one person at the agency who had not signed the confidentiality oath, and he took the report and brought it to me. That was when I realized that it was Michael, who had never been a suspect before. And that was 1995 or 1996.

Question from Nicki: Dominick, loved your Sullivan program. Any hot tips about his whereabouts since then?

Dominick Dunne: Thanks. No, not yet. But I fully expect there will be.

Question from Ddi11257: Hi! Dominick, I would like to know if they are any closer to catching Jim Sullivan?

Dominick Dunne: I have received messages from people who knew him, and were so delighted to see the story dramatized. There have been sightings of him in the past, once in Panama and once in Paris, but I feel now that the story is out there, something might happen.

Question from rio: This is my first on line chat but I have so much respect for Mr. Dunne I wanted to be a part of this chat. I have been reading his works for years since the death of his daughter Does Mr. Dunne feel that the death of his daughter has led him to perhaps his real path in life, that is, to help victims of crime? I also wanted say that Mr. Dunne is a hero in my view.

Dominick Dunne: I am indeed a victim's advocate. I had never attended a trial until I attended the trial of the man who murdered my daughter. The trial was in 1983. I was so appalled by what I saw. When I realized the rights of the killer on trial exceeded the rights of the victim, and I saw first-hand the show business aspect of the trial, I decided: there is something I can do about this. I have the talent to write about it, and I can go on television. I irritate a lot of people, but I think a lot more people like it than don't like it, because the attention goes to the victim instead of the defendant. Thank you for your comments. It was very nice to hear them.

Question from pauley: Does Jim Sullivan have money to run?

Dominick Dunne: I'm not absolutely sure. He must have some. The house was sold, but he had legal fees -- I'm not sure how much money he has, but he must have enough to make do on.

Question from jenn77: Mr.Dunne, how do you choose the cases that you write about?

Dominick Dunne: The cases I write about are different from the cases we're doing on Power, Privilege, and Justice. I have to have emotional involvement before I get interested. I felt enormous sympathy for Sunny von Bulow, who I knew. I felt enormous sympathy for Martha Moxley, because of the similarity between her death and my daughter's. I felt enormous sympathy for Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.

Question from fredcasa: Mr. Dunne--I was a close friend of Jim and Lita in Palm Beach, and, I can tell you, money was the only reason Jim had Lita killed. I was with him on the tennis court the day the judge ruled the divorce could be held in Georgia -- the fury of Jim was incredible -- the only time I saw that in the 6-7 years I knew him..

Court TV Host: By the way, folks, we have no way of verifying the info in the question...

Dominick Dunne: I totally believe that. It's totally in keeping with him. He didn't care about the divorce -- he didn't want to give up any money.

Question from NoReality: What can be done to the justice system to bring justice back to the system?

Dominick Dunne: I feel that with all its flaws, our system is the best system that there is. I think that has most recently been proved in the Michael Skakel/Martha Moxley case. I have always believed that the defendant with the million-dollar lawyer is going to beat the over-worked, underpaid local prosecutor. That happened in the OJ Simpson case, in the William Kennedy Smith rape case, it happens often. But this time, the local prosecutor Jonathan Benedict brilliantly outpaced the million-dollar Mickey Sherman. I was amazed that Michael Skakel was found guilty. I felt sure that with all his connections, everyone would think he was guilty but he would be acquitted. It shows how wonderful the system is when it works, and it really worked at that trial.

Question from van: Do you feel any sympathy for Michael and his family?

Dominick Dunne: Yes I do. Yes, I do. This is a case of a family, a large family with 7 children, one daughter, six sons, who grew up rich and unsupervised. Their mother died, their father abdicated his parental responsibilities, the kids were unruly, out of control, ordered drinks at the club when they were 15 and were served. Trouble was going to happen. And it happened. I think the right verdict was reached, but I did feel sympathy when I saw the bailiffs put the handcuffs on Michael Skakel behind his back, right in front of his family. It was a humiliating moment for a once proud family. But any sympathy I feel doesn't change the fact that the verdict was the right verdict.

Question from NickFan: Hi. I attended the Skakel case and when the verdict was read, no one seemed more stunned than you!

Dominick Dunne: You're right. I was as stunned by the guilty verdict of Michael Skakel as I was by the acquittal of OJ Simpson.

Question from Billy: Why would you feel sorry for Michael's family. They helped cover it up.

Dominick Dunne: I don't feel THAT sorry. I was just being nice. Keeping such a secret in the family, all engaging in the cover-up, has driven this family apart. None of them seems to like each other or want to be near each other. That was my observation.

Question from Eva: What made you trust Mark Fuhrman with the Moxley case files?

Dominick Dunne: Mark Fuhrman happens to be one of the great detectives in America. I deplored that he lied on the stand during the Simpson trial. At the end of the trial, however, Mark Fuhrman's life was ruined, and a man whom I believe slit the throats of two people walked free. I don't think the two crimes equated. Fuhrman wrote a book about the Simpson case called "Murder in Brentwood," which greatly impressed me with his detective skills. That's why I trusted him.

Question from Jurist_Prudence: Do you try and talk to as many jurors, after a trial, as you can; and have you found any common elements that tends to influence the jurors?

Dominick Dunne: I certainly talked to several of the jurors in this trial. Several in person, and several on the telephone. I was enormously impressed with them. Their attention was total. They resented the fact that Mickey Sherman, they felt, undermined their intelligence and talked down to them. This was truly a jury of the defendant's peers, which doesn't always happen.

Question from Lizasue: Do you think that the OJ Simpson trial, in which he was found not guilty, has made a difference in how jurors treat the rich and famous?

Dominick Dunne: Yes, I think it has. There was such disgust with that verdict, and with the fact that rich and powerful people could get away with it, and that has made jurors much more dedicated to the importance of the position of a juror in a trial.

Question from umatherman: What do you think Skakel wanted to say when the judge refused to let him speak?

Dominick Dunne: I would love to know the answer to that. It's interesting and important to add that there was anger on his face at that time. I'm sure he was going to do an "I am innocent" plea, but it was too late. When he said "I would like to speak," he had gone from being a defendant to being a convicted murderer. And the judge said "No, sir. Sit down!" I don't think he was used to being spoken to like that.

Question from Amy: How is Ken Littleton after finding out in the most embarrassing and shocking way that his wife was trying to get him to admit to something he obviously never did?

Dominick Dunne: I found the treatment of Ken Littleton by the Skakels and by the police to be utterly shocking and disgusting. They tried to blame it on the guy with no money, the family tutor whose first night it was when the murder took place. I think what they did to him, and what his ex-wife did to him, when they bugged a Howard Johnson's hotel room in Boston, and when the ex-wife tried to make him believe he confessed to her in an alcoholic blackout, is one of the most vile things I've ever heard. Ken Littleton's wife was ruined, I repeat -- ruined -- by his association with the Skakel family. The good news is that only last week, he remarried. I wish him luck in love.

Question from Lizasue: Why is it that you have not much interest in the Robert Blake case?

Dominick Dunne: I was initially interested in the Blake case, but I am not going to cover the trial. It was dreadful that he killed his wife, but it's very hard for me to feel any sympathy for her. This was a lady who was going to end bad, and I have to really care about a victim. I simply don't care about her.

Question from jsf: Dominick...when do you find time to write?

Dominick Dunne: When you make your living writing, that becomes your job. Writing is like going to the office. You just set your time and you do it. I write every day.

Question from pauley: Mr. Dunne, do you get any flack from the Kenndys?

Dominick Dunne: Yes.

Question from meme: How is Michael Skakel doing in jail?

Dominick Dunne: I have no firsthand information of how he's doing in jail. I believe for the first few days, he was on a suicide watch. The judge today just postponed the sentencing. It was supposed to be July 19, but Judge Kavanewsky ordered a three week delay after consultation with the probation officer, as well as the defense attorneys, who are going to do an appeal.

Question from Terrific2u: Mr. Dunne, I happen to believe that Mark Fuhrman is the reason O.J. was not found guilty, why do you think the verdict was "Not Giulty "?

Dominick Dunne: Certainly Mark Fuhrman had a great deal to do with the fact that he was found not guilty. And that's something he has to live with, forever. I know there's always going to be opposition to him, but I am one of the people who has forgiven him.

Question from baxter: Do you think Leslie Van Houten should be released on parole?

Dominick Dunne: I do not. Both Sharon Tate and Jay Sebring were friends of mine. That was a horrible, horrible crime.

Court TV Host: I know you've got to run...any thoughts on tomorrow night's show?

Dominick Dunne: I'm very excited about tomorrow night's show, A Scandal in Hunt Country. It's about a reclusive heiress called Susanne Cummings, who's the daughter of a billionaire arms dealer, who fell in love with an Argentine polo player. She moved him in to the Hunt Country mansion, had her own polo team, and she shot him at the breakfast table because she suspected he was playing around elsewhere. She claimed at the trial that he had abused her, but at the trial others claimed the physical abuse was self-inflicted. She went to trial, was convicted, and was sentenced for 60 DAYS. She got off 2 days for good behavior, and was fined $2500, which is a tip with her kind of money. The jail had to be cleared of its other prisoners, who were doing long terms for much lesser crimes than hers. And that's tomorrow night's story, and it's very well done.

Court TV Host: Thank you very much for being our guest today. We hope you'll come back soon again.