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Judge outlines evidence around Patterson’s incriminating conduct
Justice Beale turns to Patterson’s second alleged incriminating conduct – lying about where the dried mushrooms used in the beef wellingtons came from.
The prosecution has labelled certain conduct as incriminating, meaning it is an implied admission of guilt, the court has heard. The defence has argued there are other innocent explanations for the conduct the prosecution relies on.
Beale outlines the evidence the jury has heard in the case regarding the source of the mushrooms in the beef wellingtons Patterson cooked.
Dr Conor McDermott, a toxicology registrar at Austin hospital, said Patterson told him she sourced button mushrooms, pre-sliced from Leongatha Safeway and mushrooms from a Chinese food store in Oakleigh. McDermott said Patterson said she did not have the packaging for the dried mushrooms.
Matthew Patterson, the son of Don and Gail Patterson, said he phoned Patterson on 31 July 2023 and she said she bought fresh mushrooms from Woolworths and dried mushrooms from a Chinese shop in the Oakleigh area.
Dr Laura Muldoon, from Monash hospital, said she spoke to Patterson on the same day. She recalled Patterson saying she used dehydrated mushrooms from a Chinese grocery store in Oakleigh or Glen Waverley and did not have any of the packaging.
Judge to finish charge on Monday, jury told
The jury has entered the court room in Morwell.
Beale is continuing to deliver his instructions to the jury, known as the judge’s charge.
He tells jurors he will finish his charge on Monday before lunchtime.
“You’ll be able to go home for the weekend,” he says.
After the charge is delivered a ballot will be held to determine which 12 jurors will deliberate the verdicts, Beale says.
“And away you go, so to speak,” he says.
Beale reminds the jury they’ll be sequestered after each day of deliberations.
This means jurors will be taken to supervised accommodation after each day of deliberations to ensure they don’t have contact with the outside world.
What the jury heard yesterday
Before today’s proceedings gets under way, here’s a recap of what the jury heard on Wednesday:
1. Justice Christopher Beale told jurors he would not finish instructing them on Thursday, meaning the earliest deliberations could begin is Friday.
2. Beale said the jury did not need to accept the opinions of expert witnesses in the trial. He said the testimony of expert witnesses were pieces of evidence the jury could choose to accept or reject. The jurors were the “judges of the facts in this case”, he said.
3. Beale began outlining Patterson’s alleged incriminating conduct that the prosecution has raised. He said the defence has argued there are other innocent explanations for the conduct the prosecution relies on.
Welcome to day 38
Welcome to day 38 of Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial.
Justice Christopher Beale will continue instructing the jurors this morning before they begin their deliberations later this week.
Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha, in regional Victoria, on 29 July 2023.
She is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and her estranged husband’s aunt, Heather Wilkinson. The attempted murder charge relates to Heather’s husband, Ian.
She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The prosecution alleges Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests with “murderous intent”, but her lawyers say the poisoning was a tragic accident.
