Louise Woodward Trial: 1997

A string of medical experts testified for the prosecution that, in their opinion, Matthew's injuries were clearly indicative of "shaken-baby syndrome," although Scheck did make some minor headway when Dr. Gerald Feigin, who had performed the autopsy on Matthew, admitted that his much-quoted grand jury testimony about the baby's skull fracture resulting from the equivalent of a 15-foot fall was incorrect. A fall, Feigin acknowledged, of just two or three feet could cause such injuries.

Detective William Byrne, who had interviewed Louise after the incident, stated that she had admitted being "a little rough" with Matthew, angered by his nonstop crying, and that she had tossed him on a bed. Later, she said she had dropped Matthew onto the bathroom floor and that he may have struck his head on the side of the tub.

Some of the sharpest exchanges came when prosecution witness Dr. Eli Newberger, another pediatrician who had examined Matthew, was being crossexamined. He accused Scheck of attempting to distort his testimony, saying forcibly, "… this child was violently shaken for a prolonged period."

Deborah Eappen, Matthew's mother, was in a grimly ironic position: bereaved parent and qualified ophthalmologist. At the hospital she had examined her injured son's eyes and had seen extensive retinal hemorrhaging, a sign of shaken-baby syndrome.

"I knew what that meant," Mrs. Eappen said. "I was shocked.… I couldn't believe it." She also described the deteriorating relationship between Louise and herself.

Matthew's father, Sunil Eappen, the final prosecution witness, tried to convey an image of Louise as irresponsible and careless. "I can't remember a single evening when she was home … the mornings after were a problem," Mr. Eappen said, a reference to Louise's alleged inability to get up to care for their children after partying the night before.