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Judge frees au pair

Woodward at sentencing

Conviction reduced to manslaughter; sentence cut to time served

November 10, 1997
Web posted at: 4:29 p.m. EST (2129 GMT)

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Louise Woodward, the British au pair convicted of killing an 8-month old child, had her conviction reduced to manslaughter Monday and was sentenced to the 279 days she has spent in jail.

Bringing the case to what he called "a compassionate conclusion," Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Hiller Zobel disregarded the recommendation of Prosecutor Gerard Leone, who noted that "there are no mitigating circumstances, the defendant denies responsibility for killing Matthew Eappen and she has been found guilty twice."

Leone recommended that Woodward serve "no more than 20 years and no less than 15 years."

vxtreme Judge Hiller Zobel reads the sentence

Andrew Good, Woodward's attorney, said that "the defendant does maintain her innocence, although we realize that is not a factor that should enter consideration at this time." He recommended that Woodward's sentence be the 10 months she has already served.

Asked if she had anything to say, Woodward responded in a barely audible voice, "I maintain what I said at my last sentencing: I am innocent." icon 86 K / 8 sec. AIFF or WAV sound



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Immediately after the ruling, Leone asked the judge to delay freeing Woodward completely while the prosecution appeals his reduction of the sentence from second-degree murder to manslaughter. The defense agreed to allow Woodward's passport to remain in the possession of the court until this latest appeal has been heard.

Zobel warned Woodward that she could not leave the state until the matter is finally resolved.

Earlier in the day, Zobel reduced Woodward's second-degree murder conviction to involuntary manslaughter, saying she had not acted out of malice.

"Having considered the matter carefully, I'm firmly convinced that the interests of justice ... mandate my reducing the verdict to manslaughter," Zobel said in his ruling.

The judge said Woodward's conduct did not amount to "malice," which is required for a second-degree murder conviction.

"I believe that the circumstances in which the defendant acted were characterized by confusion, inexperience, frustration, immaturity, and some anger but not malice in the legal sense supporting a conviction for second-degree murder," Zobel wrote.

Reaction in Elton

"Frustrated by her inability to quiet the crying child, Matthew Eappen, she was 'a little rough with him' under circumstances where another, perhaps wiser person would have sought to restrain the physical impulse.

"The roughness was sufficient to start or restart a bleeding that escalated fatally."

"This sad scenario is, in my judgment after having heard all the evidence and considered the interests of justice, most fairly characterized as manslaughter, not mandatory life sentence murder. I view the evidence as disclosing confusion, fright, and bad judgment, rather than rage or malice."

Woodward's attorney, Barry Scheck, said in a brief news conference after Zobel reduced the conviction to manslaughter that he respected Zobel's decision, but that the defense would appeal. The defense had asked Zobel to overturn the jury's conviction altogether.

A Middlesex Superior Court jury convicted Woodward of killing Eappen by shaking him and slamming his head against a hard object February 4. The baby died five days later.

The autopsy report said he died as the result of bleeding from a blood clot, the result of shaken baby syndrome.

The verdict carried an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance at parole for 15 years.

Woodward's parents

The verdict prompted sob-filled bewilderment from Woodward, portrayed by prosecutors as frustrated and angry with Matthew for fussing. She cried to jurors: "I didn't do anything. ... Why did they do that to me?"

Jurors were allowed to consider only murder charges against Woodward after she and her attorneys successfully petitioned the judge to remove manslaughter as an option, even though she could have been sentenced to probation and avoided a prison sentence.

The case, with no eyewitnesses and conflicting medical testimony, was closely followed across the country and in England, where many were stunned by the verdict and swift sentence.

There was criticism in the United States, too, even before the verdict.

Some said Matthew's parents, Deborah and Sunil Eappen, both doctors, should not have left the baby and brother Brendan, now 3, with a low-paid teen-ager who had come to the United States for adventure.

A family friend said last week that the Eappens had left the state to avoid reporters.

Because of the massive publicity, Zobel decided to e-mail his ruling to news organizations, including CNN, for posting on the World Wide Web. Printed copies were also available.

However, because of a power failure affecting the Internet service provider (ISP) that serves the courthouse, the e-mail posting of the decision was delayed.

Instead, first word came from court sources who revealed the decision to reporters at the courthouse.

Correspondents Gary Tuchman and Siobhan Darrow contributed to this report.

 
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