Did Au Pair Lawyer Bare Her Soul?

A lawyer for British au pair Louise Woodward told a state trooper who arrested her on drunken driving charges that she had doubts about her client's innocence, according to a police report released Wednesday.

The trooper, who stopped Elaine Whitfield Sharp last week, said she told him she was having a difficult time lately because she now believes Woodward is guilty of killing 8-month-old Matthew Eappen.

"I thought she was innocent, but now I know she is guilty and I can't handle it," Whitfield Sharp is quoted as saying in Sgt. Randy J. Cipoletta's post-arrest report.

Whitfield Sharp denied making the comments and accused the trooper of harassing her.

"He was goading me, saying I was drinking because I was upset about Louise," Whitfield Sharp said Wednesday. "I told him she was convicted in October and this was now May. He made the whole story up.

"I did not tell the trooper I believed Louise was guilty," she said.

Woodward, 20, has been living in Whitfield Sharp's Marblehead home since November, after a judge tossed out a jury's second-degree murder conviction and sentenced her to manslaughter and the nine months she had already spent in jail.

The reversal has been appealed by prosecutors, and the case is now being reviewed by the state's highest court. The defense also has appealed her conviction.

According to Cipoletta's report, Whitfield Sharp grew belligerent and abusive after he read her rights, telling the officer: "I'm a lawyer. You should be driving me home."

The trooper said she told him she was one of the lawyers who represented Woodward. Whitfield Sharp, however, said the officer recognized her.

Whitfield Sharp said she believes the trooper concocted a story so he could attach a motive to her alleged drunkenness, saying the trooper needed evidence if the case went to trial.

A lawyer for Cipoletta, however, said Whitfield Sharp initiated all discussion about the au pair.

"Despite her belief of her own self-importance in recognizability to the general public, she was not" recognized by Cipoletta, said Timothy M. Burke.

Whitfield Sharp also said Cipoletta promised he would let her go if she had sex with him, which the trooper's lawyer denied.

She said she filed a complaint with the internal affairs office of state police. A state police spokesman said an investigation into her allegations is under way.

Whitfield Sharp was stopped Friday night and failed several sobriety tests, police said. At her arraignment Tuesday, she admitted there were enough facts to warrant a guilty finding should the case go to trial. She agreed to undergo alcohol counseling, pay fines and was placed on probation for a year.

Her lawyer, Stephen Jones, said she was taking prescription medication for migraine headaches, which exacerbated the effects of the two drinks she had earlier in the evening.

©1998 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed