Nanny Lawyer Gets The Heave-Ho

British au pair Louise Woodward fired one of her lawyers Monday, saying the woman who was reported by a police officer to doubt her innocence showed "an aberrant pattern of behavior."

The lead attorneys for Woodward, Harvey Silverglate, Andrew Good and Barry Scheck, said Monday in a statement that Woodward had fired lawyer Elaine Whitfield Sharp on their advice.

"Unfortunately, Ms. Sharp has at times exhibited an aberrant pattern of behavior, as at the time of her arrest," the statement said referring to her May 22 arrest on drunk driving charges.

A Massachusetts state trooper in his arrest report said the British-born Whitfield Sharp blurted out that she now believed that her client was guilty of killing 9-month-old Matthew Eappen.

Whitfield Sharp, who pleaded no contest and agreed to undergo treatment for alcohol abuse, has denied the statements contained in State Police Sgt. Randy Cipoletta's report of the arrest.

She also accused him of propositioning her and taunting her for representing Woodward.

Earlier Monday, Cipoletta, a 16-year police veteran, told reporters that he might take legal action if Whitfield Sharp did not apologize to him for saying the statements attributed to her in the report were untrue and that he made sexual advances toward her.

"I've been publicly accused of criminal acts I did not commit," said Cipoletta, surrounded by his wife and extended family. "I believe that I am owed an apology and Ms. Sharp should immediately issue a retraction. If she does not, I am prepared to take whatever legal steps may be appropriate in this manner."

In the statement from Woodward's remaining three lawyers, they said that after conducting their own investigation there was "no reason to believe that Trooper Cipoletta is lying about what occurred at the time of attorney Sharp's arrest."

Tensions between Woodward and Whitfield Sharp, a legal expert on brain injuries, have been brewing for some time. The lawyer and her husband, Daniel, hosted the young au pair at their home in the seaside town of Marblehead immediately after her release from prison.

But "contrary to press reports, Louise Woodward has not been living in Ms. Sharp's residence for quite some time," the statement said. "After consultation with us and her family, Ms. Woodward moved out of the Sharp residence on March 27, 1998."

The Woodward case gained worldwide attention last year when a jury convicted her of second-degree murder in the death of Eappen, who was left in her care.

The jury verdict carried a mandatory life sentence, but was set aside by a judge two weeks later who found her guilty of manslaughter and sentenced her to time served. Both sides have appealed.

Written by Leslie Gevirtz
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