Boston - A British au pair convicted of the death of an 8-month old baby last year now faces a civil trial after a US judge ruled that the parents could bring a wrongful-death law suit.
US District Court Judge William Young ruled that Louise Woodward, convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Matthew Eappen in a Boston suburb in February 1997, would have to defend herself in a civil law suit in January.
Young rejected arguments by Woodward's lawyers that the 20-year-old Briton should not be liable for punitive damages under Massachusetts law because her conviction did not find that she engaged in "wilful, wanton, or reckless conduct".
A jury convicted Woodward of second-degree murder, but the judge in the case later reduced the verdict to manslaughter and sentenced her to the 279 days she had already served. A review by Massachusetts' highest state court upheld that decision and allowed Woodward to return to England.