STAMFORD, Conn. — The high-profile lawyer who unsuccessfully defended Ethel Kennedy's nephew against charges he murdered a 15-year-old neighbor in 1975 says a composite sketch of another suspect could have helped acquit Michael Skakel.

"It would have enhanced our case," said Michael "Mickey" Sherman, a frequent legal analyst on Court TV and other cable networks. "We had an excellent alibi defense. It was the absolute bulwark of our case ... Michael Skakel is innocent. He is not guilty. He was not there."

Skakel is seeking a new trial on the grounds that new evidence has surfaced since his 2002 guilty verdict that would have changed the outcome of the case.

Jurors who convicted Skakel of Martha Moxley's Oct. 30, 1975, murder rejected Skakel's claim that he was on the other side of Greenwich at his cousin's house when she was attacked.

Lawyers for Skakel, 46, are seeking a new trial based on what they characterize as "newly discovered" evidence — including an investigator's report that concluded that the Skakel family's tutor, Kenneth Littleton, could have been involved in the murder, and a composite sketch of a man seen in the area on the night of the killing.

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Sherman testified Thursday that he asked prosecutors several months before trial for any documents or records that could aid the defense. But prosecutors refused to turn over the 1992 report naming Littleton.

Bridgeport State's Attorney Jonathon Benedict countered that the conclusion was an investigator's, was considered private notes, and was based on boxes and boxes of investigative material about Littleton that was turned over to the defense.

Skakel's lawyers believe the sketch, which was turned over to Sherman between the verdict and sentencing, resembles Littleton. According to testimony Thursday, investigators expended many hours probing the deaths or disappearances of more than a dozen women to see if they could draw any connection to movements by Littleton, who had profound mental health problems.