The two women sat in the Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge, Mass., refusing to look at each other. But both would have to hear. Deborah Eappen, 31, came forward and for several minutes read her victim's statement, repeating the horror that had engulfed her family since Feb. 4. "Our Matty had been hurt," she said, referring to her eight-month-old son. "We soon learned our baby Matthew was dying. We couldn't believe it. It was all inconceivable, and it was beyond us to comprehend that our Matty was dying because someone we trusted had hurt him." She recalled in stark detail the hopelessness of the situation: her son, who was on life support, was brain dead. On Feb. 9, she said, "we made the most painful decision in our lives. We had to let Matty go, be free of this life's pain." And then it was Louise Woodward's turn to speak. The night before, a jury of nine women and three men had found her guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Matthew Eappen. She too repeated her story of the past nine months--but in just four sentences. Almost breathlessly, she said, "I'd just like to maintain my innocence. I would never hurt Matty, and I never did hurt Matty, and I don't know what happened to him. I'm not responsible for his death. I didn't kill Matthew Eappen. That's all." And then, as she did when she first heard the verdict, Woodward collapsed in sobs.
The jury's decision had confounded legal experts and, it seems, most of public opinion, which had been formed by televised images of a cherubic, well-groomed Woodward calmly testifying from the stand. Her defense team, featuring Barry Scheck, who had been part of O.J. Simpson's "dream team," had been so confident of its case that it had turned down a last-minute offer by the prosecution to include manslaughter as an option to present to the jury. Instead, with Woodward's assent, the defense persuaded the judge that the verdict should be all or nothing--murder or acquittal. It was a gamble that went terribly wrong. "It was stunning," said Alex MacDonald, a local trial attorney. "I do not know any lawyer in the Greater Boston area who has any reaction other than shock." The verdict brings a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, with no possibility of parole for the British teenager until 15 years have been served. Woodward's defense will petition Judge Hiller Zobel to set aside the verdict this week and, if that fails, will appeal the case.
Late Saturday, the defense found ammunition in its bid to have the judge set aside the verdict in statements made by Jodie Garber, one of the jurors, to the Mail on Sunday, a British newspaper. "Nobody thought Louise intended to kill the baby," Garber was quoted as saying, explaining that it was done in the heat of the moment. She said that the jury was simply following Zobel's instructions that guilt should be determined by the fact "that a reasonable person would have known the actions she took would have resulted in the baby's death." Said Garber: "This was the verdict we had to reach." She added, "We'd rather have had a chance to consider a manslaughter option. Nobody liked the finding we felt compelled to reach."