The fate of the British teenager, Ms Louise Woodward, hung in the balance last night as the jury was forced to decide if the death of nine-month-old Matthew Eappen in her care was "a clear case of child abuse" or a terrible accident whose origins we will never know. Summing up for the defence, Mr Barry Scheck, part of the team who successfully defended O.J. Simpson, told the court: "We may never know how Matthew's death happened."
However, he blamed doctors at Boston's Children's Hospital - where Matthew was rushed last February 4th - for making "snap judgments" of child abuse that led to a reckless prosecution for firstdegree murder and "anyone's nightmare" for Ms Woodward.
Appealing to their sense of duty and patriotism, Mr Scheck told the jury they must send Louise home. "American juries have a duty to protect rich and poor, black and white, and yes, even those from foreign countries. Please send this woman home."
In a compelling morning in court, Mr Andrew Good, also for the defence, told the jury: "Louise Woodward was confronted by anyone's nightmare and she did the best she could."
He said "she told the truth which nobody had wanted to hear", which was consistent with Matthew having suffered an earlier blow to the head.
Speaking in a tense whisper, Mr Good told the court: "Louise is not a child-killer, she is a childlover who spoke the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." She was an innocent girl who worked in a children's museum on her day off.
Ms Woodward (19) faces life imprisonment if found guilty of murdering Matthew Eappen, from Newton, near Boston, whom she looked after for 11 weeks before his death.
Concentrating on medical evidence, Mr Scheck argued that Matthew's injuries were consistent with an earlier accident and that "Louise had the colossal misfortune to be with Matthew on the day those injuries flared up, fatally."
Mr Scheck also criticised Dr Joseph Masden, who operated on Matthew shortly after he arrived at the hospital, for failing to collect appropriate evidence. As he cut into the brain, a hard blood clot "came flying out and landed on the floor". It should have been scooped up and preserved. There was also no second autopsy as required by law.
The jury, comprising nine women and three men, retired to consider its verdict.