Former au pair seeks OK to profit from story

Louise Woodward, the au pair convicted in the death of the baby in her care, has asked a court to set aside an injunction that limits her ability to profit from her story.

The former British au pair's request came a day after the parents of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen asked a court to force Woodward to pay millions of dollars in damages for killing their son.An attorney for Sunil and Deborah Eappen said he plans to file an opposition to Woodward's motion Wednesday.

"If she decides to sell her story, there's nothing preventing that, but we don't want that money going to her," Frederic Ellis said Tuesday.

Woodward's lawyer asked U.S. District Judge William Young to set aside an injunction that required her to notify an American judge before making any deals to sell the rights to her story.

Woodward also asked Young to overturn his ruling preventing her from spending any money received from media interviews about the case.

In addition, attorney John P. Ryan asked that a default against Woodward - ordered when she failed to respond to the Eappens' civil suit in June - be removed, allowing her to address the civil charges and injunction against her.

Ryan said he did not know if Woodward has any deals in the works.

Woodward's action surprised the Eappens, said Ellis.

"Nobody expected this," said Ellis. "She's deliberately ignored this lawsuit for the past four months."

Woodward lost the civil case in July when she failed to reply to the original complaint. Her attorney in England said she did not have enough money to defend herself in the civil case but was not admitting negligence. She has maintained her innocence.

But because she failed to respond to the suit, the Eappens automatically won the civil case, leaving it up to Young to decide if she must pay anything.