NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Attorneys for Michael Skakel, a Kennedy cousin convicted of a 1975 murder in wealthy Greenwich, are rejecting a request by prosecutors to identify two men the defense says were implicated in the murder by a cousin of basketball star Kobe Bryant.

Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, is seeking a new trial based on a claim by Gitano "Tony" Bryant that two of his friends killed Martha Moxley.

Skakel was convicted in 2002 of bludgeoning his neighbor Moxley with a golf club. Skakel, who along with the victim was 15 at the time, is serving 20 years to life in prison.

Bryant's allegation surfaced in 2003. Prosecutors have said they are skeptical of his account.

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Bryant, who attended private school with Skakel, said he was with two friends from New York in Greenwich the night Moxley was killed, according to Skakel's attorneys.

Prosecutors last year sought the identities and whereabouts of the two men, identified only as "A" and "B" in court papers, so they can respond to the claim.

"Moreover, it is against the interests of justice for plaintiff to make allegations implicating A and B in a serious crime while withholding their identities and location from the state of Connecticut," prosecutors wrote.

Skakel's attorneys said in court papers obtained Monday that they are not required to identify the men or provide details at this stage. They said prosecutors can respond to the petition for a new trial without the information.

The petition for a new trial, filed in a Stamford court, is separate from an appeal Skakel lost last month before the Connecticut Supreme Court.