Upon request by the prosecution, Zobel remanded Woodward's passport into the custody of the court and demanded that she remain in the state until the prosecution has had an opportunity to appeal the decision.
Woodward, who maintained her innocence once again before her sentencing on Monday, released a statement yesterday from her hotel near Logan International Airport.
"I am enormously relieved that Judge Zobel has seen fit to give me back my liberty," she said. "I did not harm, much less kill, Matthew Eappen."
"I have been deeply saddened by Matthew Eappen's death," she added. "I loved Matthew."
At news conferences following Monday's sentencing, both the defense and the prosecution aired their views on the judge's ruling.
"It is an incredible, bizarre series of events," said Middlesex District Attorney Thomas F. Reilly. "It's almost beyond belief."
"I don't believe there was any justice in what happened in the courtroom this afternoon," Reilly added.
"The hardest thing I've had to do is speak to the two parents of Matthew Eappen and try to rationalize to them what happend on this court-house," said Assistant District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr.'85, the lead prosecutor in the case.
Defense attorney Barry C. Scheck said: "There are no winners in this case. This is a tragedy. Matthew Eappen is dead."
Both sides plan to appeal Zobel's decision.
"We can prove medically that [the injuries were] consistent with an accident," Scheck said, maintaining that Woodward played no role in Matthew's death.
EF Au Pair, the firm which placed Woodward in the Eappen home, is also exposed to civil suits.
The Eappens have not commented as to whether or not they will pursue such litigation, which legal experts say could cost the Cambridge-based company millions of dollars.
--Marc J. Ambinder contributed to the reporting of this story.