Erin Patterson mushroom murder conviction appeal
One page that accretes the verified record as the story develops. Every fact keeps its date and its sources.
Legal developments in Australian mushroom poisoning murder case
Patterson's barrister, Richard Edney, argued that the appropriate remedy for the hotel situation is an order for a retrial.
The lead detective and two prosecution solicitors stayed at the same hotel as the sequestered jury during deliberations.
The prosecution has argued that Patterson's parole period should be removed.
“I understand that there is a shortage of accommodation in the district, but it is obviously undesirable,”
Mushroom poisoner told at appeal hearing she must stay in prison forever
“Not only did the respondent sit by and watch her victims consume the deadly meal over chit-chat and banter, but the meal ended with a prayer for her, following her lie about having been diagnosed with cancer. ”
Erin Patterson mushroom murder conviction appeal hearing in Australian court
Trial judge Justice Christopher Beale barred prosecutors from using the 2020 Facebook post, ruling it was too old and not directly relevant.
Erin Patterson is appealing her conviction for murdering three relatives with poisonous mushrooms.
Prosecutors are appealing Patterson's sentence, arguing it is manifestly inadequate because it allows for the possibility of parole.
“Poison's the weapon, the fact that she did take out family members... [she's] white, female, financially stable, you know. And they're all church people.”
Australia mushroom murder appeal centers on hotel mix-up
Erin Patterson attended a hearing via video link from prison on Wednesday.
Patterson's lawyers argued her conviction was undermined by a hotel mix-up where the jury were placed in the same hotel as some prosecutors and a key witness.
Patterson's lawyers argued some evidence in the trial was too speculative.
Hotel mix-up central to Australian mushroom murder appeal
Patterson is serving a life sentence after killing three of her relatives and trying to kill another by serving them a beef Wellington containing death cap mushrooms at her Victoria home in 2023.
Erin Patterson attended a hearing via video link from prison on Wednesday.
Patterson has always maintained the mushroom poisoning was an accident.
Erin Patterson appeals mushroom murder convictions
Ian Wilkinson, the only surviving lunch guest, was in court
Prosecutors at trial suggested Patterson went looking for death caps after two sightings near her hometown were reported on the citizen scientist site iNaturalist
Prosecutors stated in documents filed ahead of the hearing that "guilty verdicts were inescapable"
“doused with impermissible conduct”
Mushroom murderer trial appeal hears of hotel mix-up
Patterson, 51, did not attend the Court of Appeal in Melbourne in person and watched via video link from prison.
Patterson's lawyer Veronika Drago said there was no evidence that Patterson had ever accessed or seen the iNaturalist posts.
Patterson's lawyers argued that Facebook messages Patterson sent months before the lunch were irrelevant and should not have been allowed.
“doused with impermissible conduct”