The judge inErin Patterson’s triple murder trialhas urged the jury to put aside any sympathy they may feel for her lunch guests and continue to ignore unprecedented media attention in the case.
Justice Christopher Beale started his charge to the jury on Tuesday at the Latrobe Valley law courts in Morwell,Victoria. It was expected the charge, or jury directions, would take at least two days, before the jury retired to consider its verdict.
Beale told the jury late on Tuesday, “you don’t have to bring your toothbrush tomorrow,” an indicator that he was not expecting to discharge them until Thursday at the earliest.
Patterson, 50, is facing three charges of murder and one of attempted murder in the Victorian supreme court. The charges relate to allegedly using death cap mushrooms in beef wellingtons served to lunch guests at her house in Leongatha on 29 July 2023.
Patterson has pleaded not guilty to murdering the relatives of her estranged husband, Simon Patterson – his parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and aunt, Heather Wilkinson – and attempting to murder his uncle, Ian Wilkinson, Heather’s husband.
Beale told the jury his charge would have three parts: directions regarding the principles of law that apply to the case, the evidence in the case, and the requirement for the verdict to be unanimous and the procedure which would be followed to reach this verdict.
He started by giving them an 86-page chronology of the case, which he said they could use to recall matters that occurred during the trial, which is now in its ninth week.
Beale said the jury must follow his directions in order to reach their verdict, but were not bound by any comments he or either party made about the evidence.
The jury should also avoid being influenced by the fact that Patterson admitted making the meal that killed the guests, though says it was an accident, saying the issue is not whether or not she is in some way responsible” but “whether the prosecution have proven beyond a reasonable doubt whether she is criminally responsible”.
“This is a court of law, not a court of morals … you must resist mere bias or prejudice, nor must you let sympathy for the extended Patterson or Wilkinson families cloud your judgment,” Beale said.
“I’m not asking you to be inhuman, none of us are robots … but you must scrupulously guard against that.
“Dispassionately weigh the evidence, logically and with an open mind, not according to your feelings.”
Beale told the jury “you and you alone are best placed” to deliver a verdict in the case, given they had sat in the jury box throughout the trial.
“This case has attracted unprecedented media attention, and excited much public comment,” Beale said.
“If any of that has reached your eyes or ears … or does so in coming days, you must be particularly careful.”
Beale outlined inconsistencies that the defence allege in the evidence of five prosecution witnesses, and eight inconsistencies the prosecution allege in Patterson’s evidence. The accused was the only defence witness.
The defence raised inconsistencies in the evidence of Simon, Ian, Dr Chris Webster, who was on duty at Leongatha hospital when Patterson presented after the lunch, Tanya Patterson, Erin’s sister-in-law, and Sally Ann Atkinson, a department of health official.
The prosecution say Patterson was inconsistent in her evidence about topics including when she was sick, when she learned Don and Gail were sick, and the source of mushrooms for the beef wellington.
Beale said the jury could make their own judgments about whether or not the witnesses were inconsistent, but said that even if they decided they were, that did not necessarily mean their evidence should be discounted.
“You should keep in mind that a witness who gives inconsistent accounts isn’t necessarily lying,” he said.
“Truthful witnesses might make mistakes about details.”
Beale then instructed the jury about how to consider the expert evidence in the case from Dr Matthew Sorell, a telecommunications expert.
Sorell’s evidence, Beale said, was that Patterson’s phone data showedshe “possibly” visited the towns of Loch and Outtrimin April and May 2023.
Beale said the prosecution argues that a reasonable inference can be drawn that Patterson visited the towns after public posts were made on the iNaturalist website about death cap mushroom sightings, and travelled there to source the mushrooms.
The defence, Beale said, argued that Sorell’s evidence was that Patterson’s phone records were also consistent with her having not visited those towns on the days in question.
The trial continues.