Louise Woodward

On October 30, 1997, British au pair Louise Woodward (born 28 February, 1978) was found guilty of the baby-shaking death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen. She appealed, the conviction of second degree murder was reduced to one of involuntary manslaughter, and she was sentenced to time served and freed.

Many people in the United Kingdom and the United States followed the trial carefully. The entire trail was televised in both countries, cameras are not allowed in British courts, so it was a rare chance to see somebody English being tried on television. The last major trial that had been shown on British television was that of O. J. Simpson, two years earlier. At first, many in England supported the young au pair and believed she didn't do it. In the United States, people were split on if she did or didn't do it. Many organizations supported Woodward in her cause. After she was found guilty, she broke down and cried in the courtroom.

Woodward had used a fake ID to visit a nightclub because she was under 21. This was used as evidence in court against her character, that she was not somebody to be trusted. As the legal drinking age is 18 in the United Kingdom most British people would understand her behavior.

In her statement to the police she said she "popped the baby on the bed". There was some confusion about the use of the word "popped", in British English this phrase meant "placed", Woodward was trying to say she "placed the baby on the bed". The word "popped" doesn't carry the same meaning in American English and some took it to me she had "thrown the baby on the bed".

The British were surprised to see that she was wearing handcuffs throughout the trial. In British trails handcuffs would be removed while the defendant is in court.

When her sentence was reduced to 279 days (exactly the time she had already spent in prison), Assistant District Attorney Gerald Leone (who showed a lot of anger to Woodward and the overturned verdict), immediately called for an appeal in the state supreme court. Woodward would fight as well to have the manslaughter charge removed. In a 4-3 split decision the Supreme Court of Massachusetts confirmed the reduced conviction and sentence in June 1998 (the 3 dissenting judges concurred with the reduced conviction, but argued that she be resentenced by another judge). Woodward then returned to England.

When she left for England, demonstrators and reporters were waiting at the entrance of Boston's Logan Airport. One reporter asked her how it felt going home as a convicted felon. She was taken to a private area of the airport to wait for her flight, for which she had first class ticket. When the English press got a hold of that information, they turned on her. One headline even read "First Class Child Killer".

Woodward immediately gave a press conference when returning home. It was broadcast live in England and in Boston. She said that she would be giving an interview to the BBC for no money and wanted to return to her life. The interview was conducted by Martin Bashir (who also famously interviewed Michael Jackson) in a special edition of the flagship BBC show, Panorama. Many critics believed she was mimicking the style of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Nevertheless, she maintained her innocence in the interview.

Meanwhile in America, the parents of the late Matthew Eappen filed another lawsuit against her, this time in civil courts. Woodward had no plans to show up for the hearing because she did not have the money to go through with another lawsuit. The Eappens won the hearing easily.

After the fuss died down, Woodward attended a university in London. She received a law degree and passed her exams so she could practice law in England. She became a trainee solicitor working in Greater Manchester, England for the firm of North Ainley Halliwell (http://www.northainley.co.uk). However, in March 2005 she left the law to become a dance teacher.

Woodward has campaigned against televised trials in the United Kingdom.

External Links

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/woodward/73117.stm - BBC News story on her release