By PAUL SHAPIRO AND WAYNE FLOWER FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
Updated:
Follow Daily Mail Australia’s live coverage of accused mushroom chef Erin Patterson‘s murder trial at Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court in Morwell, Victoria.
Beale livens up proceedings with another gag
Justice Beale has drawn laughter from the court room yet again after he asked the jury if they ‘minded pushing on to 1pm’.
‘I’ve got a bit more energy today, I hope you have to,’ Justice Beale said.
Justice Beale then continued his charge and is currently discussing the prosecution and defence submissions on Patterson’s alleged fake illness claims.
Patterson’s major worry after lunch revealed to the jury
The jury is again being reminded about Patterson’s ‘bush poo’.
She claimed to have taken a dump in scrub on the side of the road on the way home from Tyabb.
Justice Beale reminded the jury of the nine-second footage Patterson made at the BP Caldermeade toilet where she claimed she dumped a doggy bag of her bush poo.
Patterson claimed to have later eaten a bowl of cereal and said she went to bed about 10-11pm and felt sick about 1-2am.
The jury heard Patterson claimed water was ‘going straight through her’.
Patterson, under evidence, said she didn’t agree with some of what her son told police.
The jury previously heard the son said he couldn’t recall her mum stopping for a bush poo.
Patterson also claimed she was ‘worried about pooing her pants’.
On the Saturday evening immediately after the lunch Patterson said she drove her son’s friend home but stayed in the car because it acted ‘like a cork’ to stop her from pooing herself.
The trial is on a short break.
Jury told how death cap poisoning can affect people differently
Justice Beale is now referring to a German article on death cap mushroom poisonings which was previously mentioned in evidence.
The article included a severity grading of amanita poisoning – the toxic ingredient of a death cap mushroom.
The jury heard Grade 4 is the most serious and often ends up fatal for patients but Grade 1 says ‘patients exhibit gastrointestinal phase with typical delay, but do not develop signs of liver or kidney dysfunction’.
Dr Dimitri Gerostamoulos gave evidence about the article, and under cross-examination Mr Mandy asked the expert witness about ‘explanations for differences in reactions’ to death cap poisoning.
Dr Gerostamoulos said factors that may explain different reactions of individuals who have eaten the same meal include variations in concentration of toxins, how much of meal was consumed, general health, weight, age and ‘toxic tolerances’.
Mr Mandy asked the expert if two adults with no serious pre-existing health conditions consumed the same amount and same meal which contained death cap mushrooms and one person died, what would you expect the health outcomes to be for the person who did not die?
Dr Dimitri Gerostamoulos said ‘it would be likely that there would be some adverse outcomes for that person who survived’.
Justice Beale reminded the jury in Victoria last year that there was an incident where two people consumed the same meal containing death cap mushrooms where one person died while the other one was ‘significantly ill’ for a period and ended up in the ICU.
Patterson didn’t need to use toilet during 90-minute ambulance trip
The jury has yet again been reminded of the evidence Patterson was transported from Leongatha hospital to Monash Medical Centre and the conversations she had with a paramedic during the 90-minute trip.
The paramedic gave evidence Patterson did not need to use the toilet on that trip
Patterson also complained of a headache and was provided fentanyl, the jury was told.
At Monash, a doctor saw her about 4pm where Patterson again complained about nausea and the runs.
Justice Beale also yet again went into the evidence of health department officer Sally Ann Atkinson.
Ms Atkinson said Patterson had told her she felt sick in the morning.
Jury taken back the evidence of medical staff
Justice Beale is taking the jury back through the evidence provided by various health professionals who encountered Patterson in the days after the lunch.
Patterson said she told a nurse at Leongatha hospital she had nausea and the runs but hadn’t been vomiting.
The nurse gave evidence Patterson needed to go to the toilet so she requested a sample.
Patterson went to the toilet multiple times, producing watery bowel movements each time, the jury was told.
Another nurse claimed Patterson initially appeared upset but eventually was provided treatment.
Patterson claimed she had the runs after the fatal lunch
The jury has been reminded of the evidence of Simon who claimed he told Patterson his parents were sick, and that she expressed that she too was unwell.
Simon said Patterson claimed she had the runs.
Justice Beale said Patterson called Simon on the Monday morning after the lunch but he ‘wasn’t keen to chat’.
Patterson wanted Simon to take her to hospital, but he suggested she get an ambulance or drive herself.
Jury reminded of Patterson’s post-lunch health claims
Justice Beale has returned to the topic of Patterson’s alleged incriminating conduct by allegedly lying about being unwell after the lunch.
The jury heard Patterson’s son said he checked in with his mum and she seemed ‘okay’ the trip to Tyabb the day after the mushroom meal.
Justice Beale said her son claimed Patterson ran to the toilet after returning home.
Patterson’s son recalled eating the leftovers, describing the meat as ‘the best he’d had’.
He recalled his mum telling him his grandparents weren’t well.
The jury heard Patterson and her children watched a TV series that night and the next day the son said his mum drove them to the bus stop.
Justice Beale drew a laugh when he said the son spent time in the computer room ‘like most teenagers do’.
Patterson’s daughter claimed mum was too sick to go to church
Justice Beale said Patterson claimed, the day after the lunch, she’d been to the toilet throughout the night.
Patterson’s daughter spoke about arriving home on Saturday night and playing games with her mum on their tablets.
The daughter said Patterson felt sick the next day and noted her going to the toilet throughout the next day.
She said her mum was too sick to go to church.
The daughter also recalled eating the leftovers and claimed her mum didn’t eat much as she was sick.
Defence: Patterson lied because she feared she would be ‘wrongly accused’
Justice Beale said defence barrister Colin Mandy SC said his client lied because she panicked and felt ‘wrongly accused’ after a conversation with Simon in which Patterson claimed he accused her of poisoning his parents.
The jury heard Mr Mandy said Patterson’s lies were ‘not incriminating conduct’.
‘She starts lying because of that dawning realisation and because of fear she would be wrongly accused,’ Justice Beale said Mr Mandy submitted.
‘Even if she’d come forward that time, it wouldn’t have made any difference to the lunch guests who were receiving treatment in relation to suspected death cap mushroom poisoning.’
Jury told about Patterson’s many lies: ‘Calculated deception’
Justice Christopher Beale is continuing his charge to the jury and has turned to the topic of the lies Patterson admitted telling police
Patterson, who is today wearing a white and black-striped t-shirt, listened as the jury was told she admitted lying about owning a dehydrator, dehydrating food and foraging.
Justice Beale said Patterson claimed her lies to police were a ‘stupid, kneejerk reaction’ because she was ‘scared’.
The prosecution submitted Patterson’s lie about the dehydrator was a ‘calculated deception’.
Judge directs jury to disregard key prosecution argument
On Thursday afternoon, Justice Beale directed the jury to dismiss a key prosecution argument that if the children had eaten the scraped-off meat from the lunch they would’ve experienced symptoms.
‘You have no expert evidence as to whether that would be the case, and so I direct you to disregard that argument,’ Justice Beale said.
‘You would be speculating if you would go down that path.’
Justice Beale previously said experts couldn’t say for certain that the toxins would have entered the meat and the mushroom paste had been unable to be separated from the sample.
Forensic experts said while death caps were found, it could only be said it was in the sample alone.
The defence (legal team pictured below) submitted the leftovers in the bin could’ve been cross-contaminated from seeping juices.
The trial will resume at 1030am.
Patterson wanted to be ‘truthful and accurate’ about mushroom source
Patterson agreed she never mentioned dried mushrooms to Dr Webster but she did mention them when phoned by Matthew Patterson later.
The jury heard Patterson said she knew it was important to be ‘truthful and accurate’ because she knew Don’s health was at stake
Justice Beale said Patterson gave evidence she later provided more information on the mushrooms to other doctors.
Patterson also agreed she told paramedics she spoke of the dried mushrooms but couldn’t remember where she’d got them.
The jury heard Patterson agreed she told several others she believed she bought the mushrooms from an Asian grocer.
Patterson claimed on August 1, while at the Monash Medical Centre, she mentioned to Ms Cripps several locations where she may have purchased the dried mushrooms.
Justice Beale also said Patterson accepted the mushroom source was a ‘public emergency’ while the jury was reminded about the various different locations Patterson told different people.
Jury told about Patterson’s ‘alleged incriminating conduct’
Towards the end of Wednesday’s proceedings, Justice Beale spoke to the jury about the topic of Patterson’s ‘alleged incriminating conduct’.
‘The prosecution (Crown prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers SC pictured) argued Patterson knew she was guilty and did what she did to conceal her guilt,’ Justice Beale said.
However, Justice Beale told the jury the defence has reasons for Patterson’s behaviour.
‘The defence claimed there were innocent explanations for that behaviour,’ he added.
Justice Beale listed some of that alleged ‘incriminating’ conduct:
1. She lied about being unwell after the lunch
2. Patterson lied about the Asian grocer mushrooms
3. She refused treatment at hospital and left against medical advice
4. She had reluctance to accept treatment the second time at hospital
5. Patterson was reluctant to get kids treated on July 31
6. Why would she have fed the kids leftovers?
7. She reset Phone B multiple times on August 2
8. She dumped the dehydrator
9. On August 5, she provided Phone B instead of Phone A
10. Patterson lied to cops about her phone number
11. She lied about foraging
12. She lied about owning a dehydrator
Justice Beale has been going through the topics listed with the jury.
Patterson judge tells jury when it’s their time to decide accused killer’s fate
Justice Christopher Beale commenced his address to the jury – or ‘charge’ – on Tuesday after giving jurors a four-day weekend to prepare for the closing stage of the marathon Erin Patterson murder trial.
On Thursday, Justice Beale indicated that his address will conclude on Monday and then two jurors will be balloted out before the remaining 12 decide Patterson’s fate,
Patterson, 50, is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, after allegedly serving them a beef Wellington lunch made with death cap mushrooms.
Patterson is also accused of attempting to murder Heather’s husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson, who survived the lunch after spending several weeks in an intensive care unit.
The court heard Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon (pictured), was also invited to the gathering at her home in Leongatha, in Victoria’s Gippsland region, but didn’t attend.
Witnesses told the jury that Patterson ate her serving from a smaller, differently-coloured plate to those of her guests, who ate off four grey plates.
Patterson told authorities she bought dried mushrooms from an unnamed Asian store in the Monash area of Melbourne, but health inspectors could find no evidence of this.
Jury reminded of defence submissions about Patterson’s alleged illness
Justice Beale has turned to defence submissions about Patterson’s alleged illness after the lunch.
The jury heard the defence claimed Patterson could have eaten death caps and simply not become as sick as the others.
‘The defence argued Patterson’s account of events had been consistent,’ Justice Beale said
Justice Beale also said the defence claimed ‘the prosecution wasn’t being fair’.
The defence also raised varying accounts of witnesses.
Justice Beale said Simon agreed he may not have told Patterson on July 30 all four lunch guests were sick.
However, the prosecution claimed Simon did tell Patterson all four were ill, not just Don and Gail.
Justice Beale said the defence disputed claims Patterson became sick earlier than the other lunch guests because she was faking it.
The defence said it was ‘common sense’ she tasted the poisonous meal as she was preparing it hours earlier although Patterson never said in evidence that she did taste the duxelles during preparation.
Jury reminded of who ate what during fatal feast
Justice Beale is again taking the jury through the portion sizes that the lunch guests may have eaten.
The jury has heard different accounts of who ate what while the prosecution claimed Patterson ate all her Wellington.
‘The vomiting was a lie,’ Dr Rogers argued.
Patterson gave evidence she vomited after binge eating a cake after the lunch.
Prosecution: Patterson left hospital because ‘she knew she poisoned her guests’
Justice Beale said the prosecution also claimed Patterson left Leongatha hospital after her first visit early on July 31 hospital because ‘she knew she had poisoned her guests’.
The jury heard claims Patterson’s phone connected to locations away from her home after she left the hospital.
However, Patterson gave evidence she simply went home and had a lie down after attending to the things she claimed needed doing.
The jury previously heard Patterson claimed she needed to attend to her animals and prepare for her daughter’s ballet rehearsal later that day.
Justice Beale said the prosecution claimed Patterson’s behaviour after the lunch all added up to ‘incriminating conduct’.
Jury told why prosecution claimed Patterson was faking illness
Justice Beale said Crown Prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers SC argued Patterson was ‘not suffering from death cap mushroom poisoning at all’.
The jury heard Dr Rogers said Patterson tried to make it appear she was suffering from death cap mushroom poisoning because if she didn’t it would ‘give her away’.
Justice Beale told the jury Dr Rogers said Patterson’s ‘accounts of her illness vary’.
‘In her first conversation with Simon, she told him she started to feel unwell at 4pm to 4:30pm and had diarrhea every 20 minutes before she took [son’s friend] home, it would be inconsistent, argued that Dr Rogers, with death cap mushroom poisoning, for simple symptoms to have begun.
‘Then she told [Katrina] Cripps too that she was worried about taking [son’s friend home] home because she might have an accident.
‘She told Dr [Laura] Muldoon that she had explosive diarrhea every 10 minutes overnight, which became watery clear by Sunday, “I think a person with diarrhea wouldn’t have driven [son’s friend] home and stopped at Subway on the way home from that trip”,’ Justice Beale said.
Justice Beale also said Dr Rogers pointed out Patterson gave various accounts of ‘explosive’ diarrhea to multiple witnesses and medical staff.
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Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates: Judge gives instruction jury must disregard major argument as trial hits final days
