Norwalk, Conn. ? The judge in the murder trial of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel rejected a request Thursday from jurors who wanted to rehear part of the prosecution’s closing arguments.

Judge John F. Kavanewsky Jr. said he did not believe the request could be granted under state law because closing arguments are not evidence. Skakel’s defense lawyer, Michael Sherman, objected to the request on those grounds.

Michael Skakel stands outside court Thursday in Norwalk, Conn., as jurors deliberate his fate.

The jury ended its third day of deliberations without reaching a verdict.

Skakel, 41, is accused of beating Martha Moxley to death with a golf club in October 1975, when they were 15-year-old neighbors in a wealthy gated community in Greenwich. He is a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, the widow of former U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy.

Susann Gill, a lawyer on the prosecution team, said a repeat of the closing argument might help the jury resolve whatever issue they were considering.

“The state can see no prejudice in having the jury hear again what they already heard,” Gill said.

But Sherman said there was no authority in state law to permit the rereading.

“The argument is an interpretation of the evidence,” he said.

Kavanewsky said he would tell the jury he couldn’t honor that request. But the judge agreed to reread his instructions on issues such as reasonable doubt, motive and alibi.

Jurors also reheard testimony of three witnesses, including a former Skakel friend who said Skakel had a crush on Moxley and forensics expert Henry Lee. Under cross-examination by Sherman, Lee said he had no direct evidence to tie Skakel to the murder.

They dropped a request to rehear the testimony of John Higgins, who said that Skakel had confessed to killing Moxley during a conversation at a residential substance abuse treatment center in the late 1970s.

Skakel’s defense says he was visiting a cousin in another part of Greenwich when the murder was most likely committed.