Au Pair Fires Lawyer; Guilty Quote Alleged

British au pair Louise Woodward has fired one of her lead attorneys after the woman reportedly told a state trooper she now believes Woodward is guilty.

In a statement Monday, her three other lawyers--Harvey Silverglate, Andrew Good and Barry Scheck--said the 20-year-old has accepted their recommendation “to immediately dismiss attorney [Elaine Whitfield] Sharp as one of her counsel, and a letter of dismissal has been sent.”

The trooper who arrested Whitfield Sharp on drunk-driving charges last week said the lawyer told him she now believes the former au pair--who was convicted in the killing of an 8-month-old boy in her care--is guilty.

Whitfield Sharp denied making the comments and in turn accused State Police Trooper Randy Cipoletta of making sexual advances toward her and of having a vendetta against her.

“We do not believe that Trooper Cipoletta is an extortionist and a liar, any more than we believe that Ms. Woodward is a murderer and a liar,” the three attorneys said in the statement.

“The evidence of Ms. Woodward’s innocence, fully known and understood by attorney Sharp as by the three of us, is as compelling now as it was before attorney Sharp’s arrest.”

Paul Barrow, the Woodward family’s British lawyer, said Whitfield Sharp’s alleged comments constituted an “absolutely gross breach of client confidentiality . . . irrespective of what was said--which we regard as complete rubbish.”

A call to Whitfield Sharp’s home was answered by her husband, Dan Sharp, also a lawyer, who declined to comment.