The Louise Woodward case concerned a young English au pair convicted, at age 19, of the 1997 involuntary manslaughter of eight-month-old Matthew Eappen while he was in her care in his home in Newton, Massachusetts, in the United States. Woodward was deemed the "most notorious criminal convicted in Massachusetts" by Boston law magazine Exhibit A ten years after the death.

Five days after being admitted to Children's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, Matthew Eappen fell into a coma, and died on February 9, 1997 from a fractured skull and subdural hematoma. He was also found to have a fractured wrist, an unnoticed and unexplained injury from a month earlier. Dr. Lois E.H. Smith, M.D., Ph.D., an ophthalmologist at the hospital, observed retinal hemorrhages judged characteristic of shaken-baby syndrome.

In a statement to the police, Woodward said that she "popped the baby on the bed". There was a dispute in her case over the use of the word popped: in British English, this phrase means "put" or "placed", and Woodward claimed she was saying that she "placed the baby on the bed". However, in American English, popped suggests violence. Her defense lawyers argued to the jury that the word popped does not have the same meaning as in American English. However, in addition to "popping" Matthew on the bed, Woodward also told the police that she had dropped him on the floor at one point, and that she had been "a little rough" with him. The police officer who interviewed her immediately after the incident adamantly insists that she never used the word popped, but in fact said that she "dropped" the baby on the bed.

Rikki Klieman is an American criminal defense lawyer and TV personality for TruTV. A native of Chicago, she worked in criminal defense in Boston and taught at Columbia Law School before moving to the entertainment field. Additionally, she is an author, actress, and is married to William Bratton, former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department.

She was born to a Ukrainian Jewish immigrant family in Chicago, where she danced, acted, and sang as a youth. Rikki Klieman attended Northwestern University where she was a theater major and had plans of becoming an actress. However, she decided to attend law school. Klieman graduated from Boston University School of Law in 1975 with her Juris Doctor. During law school she externed for U.S. District Court judge Walter Jay Skinner.

After law school she was an Assistant District Attorney for the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office, before she joined the Boston, Massachusetts, law firm of Friedman & Atherton before starting her own private practice. Then in 1983 she was named by Time magazine as one of the five best female attorneys in the United States. From 1996 to 2003 she was part of the faculty at Columbia’s law school, while previously spending time on her alma mater’s faculty at Boston University’s law school.

Stuart Littler (born 19 February 1979 in Billinge, Wigan, Greater Manchester, but a lifelong resident of Leigh, Greater Manchester) is an English rugby league player.

Littler played for the Salford City Reds in the European Super League but now plays for hometown club Leigh Centurions.

Littler's position of choice is as a centre. He can also operate in the second-row. He has also played some games on the wing.

Littler is an Irish international.

Littler was expected to leave the club following Salford's relegation to National League One. Littler was expected to seal a move to Harlequins RL, however Chairman Ian Lenagan has decided not to offer him a deal.

Littler joined Salford in 1998 – his first professional club and is equal top-try scorer in a season for the club, alongside David Watkins.

He was named in the Ireland training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, and the Ireland squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.