Australian mushroom murderer Erin Patterson's case has returned to court after her lawyers raised concerns about a serious mistake during her trial. Her legal team claims the trial may have been affected because the jury, along with prosecutors and an important witness, stayed at the same hotel.
Patterson is serving a life sentence for killing three relatives and trying to kill another person after serving them a beef Wellington containing deadly death cap mushrooms in 2023.
Her victims were her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson. Her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, was also expected to attend the lunch but cancelled at the last moment.
During the latest hearing, the prosecution is challenging the punishment, saying the 33-year non-parole period is too short for her crime.
According to CNN, Erin Patterson's lawyer Richard Edney raised seven points and asked the court to review the case. One of the main issues was the hotel where the jury members stayed during the trial.
Despite Edney's argument, reports claim that the jury was kept separate from other guests. There is no evidence that the jurors actually spoke to the other people at the hotel. Still, Patterson's lawyers argued that there was a possibility of contact which “cannot be excluded.”
Her legal team believes that simply having the jury and other people connected to the case in the same building “fatally undermined the integrity of the verdicts.”
The lawyers also raised concerns about the way Erin Patterson was questioned. They argued that the cross-examination went on for several days, which, according to them, was “unfair and oppressive.”
Her legal team also said that some of the evidence shown to the jury should not have been included because it might affect how they see Patterson.
They further questioned the use of information from the iNaturalist website, saying there was no proof that Patterson had seen posts on the site that showed where death cap mushrooms can be found.
The judges have not yet announced their decision and the court is expected to give their final decision later, but no exact date has been confirmed yet.
