A Courageous Judge Finds Au Pair Justice

A SMART, courageous judge, a literate and uncompromising decision and the sense that justice and common sense prevailed concludes this chapter in the mesmerizing case of the British au pair and the death of little Matthew Eappen.

Reaching back to Colonial times for precedent while filing his decision on the Internet, Judge Hiller Zobel concluded that a jury decision of "guilty" to second-degree murder charges against 19-year old Louise Woodward exceeded his own standard of justice.

Yesterday, he freed Woodward from her life imprisonment. The judge said she is guilty of involuntary manslaughter but has paid her debt to society with the 279 days she spent in jail while awaiting trial.

Even those who are convinced of her guilt and wish a 19-year-old to spend her life in prison must reflect on the depth of the conscience of Judge Zobel. By using his legal capacity to reduce the charges, Zobel freed himself from the restrictions of mandatory sentencing and applied his logic and his wisdom to a judicial decision.

In Zobel's words, Woodward acted (with) "confusion, inexperience, frustration, immaturity and some anger, but not malice." Further, he wrote, "I am morally certain that allowing this defendant on this evidence to remain convicted on second-degree murder would be a miscarriage of justice."

There will be much disagreement about the ruling and Zobel's dilemma of a defense that was too clever. But here's the remarkable thing about this public trial: A judge acted deliberately to reach what some will consider an unpopular decision.

The case of Louise Woodward carried all of the nightmares of parenthood - charges of infanticide, an unprepared, panicked baby sitter and the terrible consequences of "shaking infant syndrome." Was an 8-month-old baby shaken and fatally injured by the au pair, and if so, was it done with malice? Did Louise like American night life too much to be a patient nanny? Were the parents, both of whom have medical training, oddly unaware of baby Matthew's symptoms?

In an article written for the Christian Science Monitor in 1988, Zobel foresaw the burdens of sitting on the bench amid a trial of international interest. "A judge must simply listen to his conscience and try to hear its still, small voice over the angry clamor," he wrote.

In his search for justice, Judge Zobel stretched his legal discretion broadly but the sentence will sit well on the conscience of most of the country. Woodward, guilty of involuntary manslaughter, goes free after nine months of jail. (She will not return to her home in England until after appeals have been exhausted.)

Still debatable is whether her time in jail was sufficient for the death of a child, but few who saw the trial will think that the tragedy in that household was an act of murder.