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S P E C I A L S The Au Pair Trial Woodward issues statement claiming her innocence
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CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN) -- British au pair Louise Woodward released a statement Tuesday repeating her claim to innocence and saying that one day she hopes the family of Matthew Eappen will believe that she did their baby no harm.
Woodward's conviction of second-degree murder was reduced to involuntary manslaughter Monday by Superior Court Judge Hiller Zobel, who also reduced her sentence to the prison time she had already served.
Zobel ordered Woodward to surrender her passport until the appeals process is concluded. The news media tracked Woodward down at a Boston harbor hotel where she has been staying with her family since her release.
A L S O :
Full text of Louise Woodward's statement
"I am enormously relieved that Judge Zobel has seen fit to give me back my liberty," she said in her statement. "I am confident that the future direction of this case, including the ongoing efforts by my lawyers to investigate further the science underlying the case, will further justify Judge Zobel's decision. My relief at being freed does not reduce my desire to obtain total vindication in a case where, as I have said under oath, I committed no crime whatsoever.
"I did not harm, much less kill, Matthew Eappen."
The statement continued:
"I have been deeply saddened by Matthew Eappen's death. I experienced the horror of seeing him fail, as I testified in court, and as anyone listening to the 911 tape can readily understand. I loved Matthew. I know that his family is unable to understand or believe me, because they are so convinced I killed him or contributed to his death.
"I pray that further investigation into the scientific evidence convinces the Eappen family I did no harm to their son.
"I have heard rumors that I have sold my story or rights to my story to the news media. I want to set the record straight. I have done no such thing. I have accepted, and am thankful for, EF Au Pair's payment of my legal fees and costs. And I'm thankful for the contributions of friends, neighbors and supporters both here and in England that have made it possible for my parents to travel and be with me and will now make it possible for me to live in Massachusetts until my case is concluded. And I plan to make no further statements until the legal proceedings are over."
British press hails decision
British newspaper headlines on Tuesday reflected the country's sense of relief following Zobel's decision.
- "FREED!" declared The Mirror
- "MERCY," blazoned The Daily Mail
- "FREEDOM," shouted The Express
The British tabloid press waged a relentless campaign to free Woodward during her trial and then after the jury found her guilty in the death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen,
More than one paper said the guilty verdict was prompted by her nationality. Americans, the thinking went, didn't understand that her lack of emotion was actually British reserve -- the so-called "stiff upper lip."
But the nationalist, anti-American tone changed overnight when Judge Hiller Zobel reduced the murder conviction to manslaughter.
"It's not quite as simple as (the British media) portray it, but I think ... they view Louise Woodward as innocent and Judge Zobel as a hero," said Tim Kendal, a British defense attorney. "How right they are, I don't know. But it's right to say there's a great feeling of confidence in the American judicial system."
Infant's parents vilified
Some British newspapers have vilified the infant's parents. One headline called Deborah and Sunil Eappen the "odd couple who longed for a Mary Poppins life." Another referred to Mrs. Eappen as "Mrs. Nasty."
A British newspaper that ran a large photograph of the hospitalized infant on life support -- his eyes closed, his head bandaged -- then questioned whether the release of the picture by the Eappen family was "emotional blackmail."
The next day the same paper ran a photograph of Louise as a little girl.
Media coverage aside, Kendal believes the manslaughter verdict was correct because he said prosecutors did not have the evidence to support a murder conviction. Since prosecutors in the United States tend to be elected, they may "feel they must achieve a result to satisfy public justice," the British defense attorney told CNN.
Prosecutors in Britain are appointed.
Because the case is under appeal by both the prosecution and the defense, Woodward will not be coming home in the immediate future.
In the meantime, a spokeswoman for the "Free Louise" campaign in Woodward's hometown of Elton, England, says the family is seeking legal and financial advice about what to do with the $480,000 fund begun as a local effort to help pay the family's expenses while in Massachusetts.
Correspondent Margaret Lowrie contributed to this report.
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Related stories:
- Reaction to au pair's release exuberant, grim - November 10, 1997
- Judge frees au pair - November 10, 1997
- Reaction to Woodward decision - November 10, 1997
- World watches Web for au pair decision - November 9, 1997
Related sites:
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- The Louise Woodward Campaign For Justice - official support site set up by family, friends and sympathetic supporters of the British Au-Pair Louise Woodward
- Louise Woodward Support Page - supporters from Boston
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
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