LOUISE WOODWARD was a British teenage babysitter who was imprisoned for the death of an American baby in 1997.

The trial has divided opinions on both sides of the Atlantic, with many wondering why Woodward has been released from prison.

Why was Louise Woodward released from prison?

In January 1997, Louise Woodward, then 19, from Wirral, was working as an au pair for her family in Newton, Massachusetts.

She was responsible for caring for eight-month-old Matthew Eappen.

But just a few weeks after going into labor, the baby died of brain damage and prosecutors said it exhibited the classic symptoms of shaken baby syndrome.

Woodward was charged with first degree murder and was denied bail while held in a maximum security prison until trial.

At his trial, the prosecution’s expert witnesses claimed that Matthew’s injuries, including internal bleeding and a fractured skull, presented the “triad” of symptoms consistent with being violently shaken.

An expert, Dr. Patrick Barnes, testified that this was the “classic model” of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS).

Throughout the case, Woodward has always maintained his innocence, with his defense team claiming that the baby’s death was caused by an injury he sustained weeks earlier.

On October 30, 1997, after 26 hours of deliberation, the jury convicted Woodward of second degree murder.

The charge came with a mandatory life sentence and a minimum of 15 years in prison, but Woodward’s legal team filed an appeal shortly thereafter.

Just 10 days after her conviction, she successfully appealed and changed her charge to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 279 days in prison.

At this point, Woodward had already served his sentence and had been released.

How long was Louise Woodward sentenced to prison?

Woodward was sentenced to 279 days in prison.

She served her sentence and returned to the UK, where almost 25 years after the trial she now lives as a free woman in the UK with her own family.

Woodward earned a law degree and now works as a dance teacher after establishing his own school to teach jive and salsa.

What happened to the call from Louise Woodward?

At trial, the prosecution alleged that Woodward killed the baby with “frustrated, unhappy and unrelenting rage,” something his defense team vehemently rejected.

There was also a dispute over a statement the au pair made to the police, with Woodward claiming that she told authorities that she “blew up the baby on the bed.”

After clarifying that he said “explode” instead of “drop,” Woodward explained that the word “,

On November 4, Woodward’s legal team filed post-conviction motions in the trial court and the hearing began.

In the days after the verdict, it emerged that the jury was divided on the murder charge, but those in favor of acquittal were persuaded to accept the conviction.

However, this had no legal consequences. No juror “thought she tried to murder him,” one member said.

On November 10, at a post-conviction reparations hearing, Judge Zobel reduced the sentence to involuntary manslaughter.

She said: “The circumstances in which the defendant acted were characterized by confusion, inexperience, frustration, immaturity and some anger, but not malice in the legal sense that supports a second degree murder conviction.

“I am morally confident that allowing this defendant, on the basis of this evidence, to remain convicted of second degree murder would be a judicial error. “