Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel, whose murder conviction in the 1970s killing of a teenager in Connecticut was overturned, is suing the lead police investigator in the case and the town of Greenwich for alleged malicious prosecution, civil rights violations and other claimed wrongdoing.

Skakel, 63, a nephew of Robert F. Kennedy’s widow, Ethel Kennedy, was found guilty in 2002 of the 1975 bludgeoning death of Martha Moxley, who lived across the street from the Skakel family in wealthy Greenwich and whose body was found in her family’s backyard. Both Skakel and Moxley were 15 at the time of her death.

The Connecticut Supreme Court overturned Skakel’s conviction in 2018, after he had served more than 11 years in prison, saying his defense lawyer failed to present evidence of an alibi. A state prosecutor announced in 2020 that Skakel would not be put on trial again and the murder charge was dropped.

The new lawsuit alleges the investigator, Frank Garr, was intent on getting Skakel convicted and withheld key evidence about other potential suspects from Skakel’s trial defense. The defendants in the lawsuit “knew that there were other more likely suspects and that there was no probable cause to arrest and/or maintain a prosecution against the Plaintiff (Skakel), but continued to do so intentionally and maliciously, in order to convict a ‘Kennedy Cousin,’” the suit alleges.

The state attorney general’s office, which is defending Garr, declined to comment Tuesday. A lawyer for Greenwich did not immediately return an email message. A message also was left at a phone listing for Garr.

Skakel’s attorney, Stephan Seeger, called the lawsuit a civil rights action against Garr and the town.

“He spent 11 and a half years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit and was put through every thinkable proceeding until the case was finally dismissed,” Seeger said.

The lawsuit, filed in state court in Stamford in November, seeks unspecified damages over $15,000.

The case drew international attention because of the Kennedy name, Skakel’s rich family, numerous theories about who killed Moxley and the brutal way in which she died. Several other people, including Skakel’s brother Tommy Skakel, were mentioned as possible killers. Tommy Skakel denied involvement in the killing.

The slaying took place in the exclusive Bell Haven section of Greenwich where Martha and Skakel were neighbors. At trial, prosecutors said Skakel was angry with Martha because she had spurned his advances while having a sexual liaison with Tommy. There also was witness testimony about incriminating statements Skakel allegedly made.

Skakel’s appellate lawyers later argued that Skakel’s trial attorney, Mickey Sherman, made poor decisions, including not focusing on Tommy as a possible suspect and failing to attempt to contact an alibi witness.

They said Skakel was several miles away from the crime scene, watching a Monty Python movie with friends when Moxley was killed on Oct. 30, 1975. Sherman has defended his representation of Skakel.