Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #5 *Arrest*

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The Case of the Mystifying Mushroom Memo?
JLZ said:
Suppose EP prepared the statement for the benefit of her lawyer and to solidify her memory. Then somebody took it from a computer and sent it the police and media. It would be possible to raise the question whether the version that was leaked was EP's final version or whether it was a draft containing inadvertent errors. Or even, whether the somebody could have made changes before sending it on.
Click to expand...

@JLZ thanks for your post.
Changes between EP's draft & version distributed to LE and/or media?
Yes, it's possible, as there are several variations of vital points re document content & the way it "made the rounds." IDK.
 
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ch_13 said:
We just had a discussion about this on the prior page. On a radio show, the Deputy Police Commissioner of Victoria confirmed that they received the statement directly from Erin's attorneys.

Here's the quote which comes from this article:
She stressed it was not an official police statement, but a document taken by and provided by Patterson’s legal team.
...
Steendam said she was uncertain if the statement was handed to the media before it was given to police.

(bolding mine)

And I should also add that communications between a lawyer and their client are privileged (at least in the U.S. and I assume in Australia as well). If the police were investigating a document that was purloined from the attorney's computer it would be a gross violation that would likely doom any future prosecution.
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Thanks for drawing my attention to Wendy Steendam's comments. That does make a difference to my thinking. Indeed, I don't contemplate a spy within EP's legal team. It was more somebody with access to her own computer--possibly even herself. But if police received the statement from her lawyers--then it was carefully prepared and sent with EP's consent. And whether the media received the same version would be immaterial, because any argument over admissibility would be concerning the one held by police.
 
JLZ said:
Suppose EP prepared the statement for the benefit of her lawyer and to solidify her memory. Then somebody took it from a computer and sent it the police and media. It would be possible to raise the question whether the version that was leaked was EP's final version or whether it was a draft containing inadvertent errors. Or even, whether the somebody could have made changes before sending it on.
Click to expand...

Those are good points and are true. Any of those scenarios could have happened.

But even if any of the above happened, why wouldn't EP correct the statements. If she made a draft that contained errors or misinformation, once the press released them, why not correct the misleading info?

People's lives were at stake. Wouldn't she want the public to have the correct info about the source of the deadly toxins?

If she didn't buy dried mushrooms at an Asian market or packaged mushrooms at the local store, why not correct that info publicly?
 
katydid23 said:
Those are good points and are true. Any of those scenarios could have happened.

But even if any of the above happened, why wouldn't EP correct the statements. If she made a draft that contained errors or misinformation, once the press released them, why not correct the misleading info?

People's lives were at stake. Wouldn't she want the public to have the correct info about the source of the deadly toxins?

If she didn't buy dried mushrooms at an Asian market or packaged mushrooms at the local store, why not correct that info publicly?
Click to expand...
I can think of several possible reasons, but one of them is that she knows there's no public health risk because she was it.
 
JLZ said:
I can think of several possible reasons, but one of them is that she knows there's no public health risk because she was it.
Click to expand...
Exactly.

If she knows there is no public health risk there's no reason to correct it publicly.

But if she thought there was a risk, because she was not the source of the toxins, I'd think she'd have to correct the statement if it was erroneously released and was false info.

So I think this was the actual statement she crafted with her attorneys. And I think she asked them to hand it over to the press and to LE.

But now her defense or her PR people are trying to confuse everyone with this ' but it was never signed' issue. JMO
 
katydid23 said:
Exactly.

If she knows there is no public health risk there's no reason to correct it publicly.

But if she thought there was a risk, because she was not the source of the toxins, I'd think she'd have to correct the statement if it was erroneously released and was false info.

So I think this was the actual statement she crafted with her attorneys. And I think she asked them to hand it over to the press and to LE.

But now her defense or her PR people are trying to confuse everyone with this ' but it was never signed' issue. JMO
Click to expand...
There were only bits of it released. If somebody else sent it to the media, or if she accidentally connected to a draft instead of the final version, she might not realize a minor error. I don't mean a difference like "picked at Walhalla" vs "picked up at Woolworths" (autocorrect in overdrive? not really) but something like, she stated a date for when she did something, like dumped the dehydrator, and afterwards wasn't sure if it was right, and so removed any reference to the timing. And the media didn't quote that part so she didn't notice.

I don't think it's her side who are saying she didn't sign it--also JMO. I think her position would be that she's done her duty, or more than that, by communicating what she knows. The lawyers would probably have preferred she told police nothing, no discussion, no statement, sworn or unsworn.
 
The Age reports Ms Patterson, 48, was taken to Wonthaggi Police Station on Thursday.
It is understood police are also searching her home.

No charges have been laid yet and Victoria Police have been contacted for comment.


www.theage.com.au

Homicide detectives arrest mushroom cook Erin Patterson over fatal lunch

Two months ago, Erin Patterson had four guests she says she loved over for lunch. Three are dead from suspected mushroom poisoning and today Patterson was arrested.
www.theage.com.au www.theage.com.au
 
OMG! I’ve been checking msm twice a day and totally missed the news.

I thought I’d feel some satisfaction after all these weeks of arguing but I just feel sad. Three elderly people who never hurt anyone, including a woman who Erin called a second mother to her.

Damnit.
 
*Oh my. I’m so surprised. I was not expecting this!

“A 49-year-old Leongatha woman was arrested at her home address shortly after 8am on 2 November,” police said.

“A search warrant has been executed at the Gibson Street address, with assistance from the AFP’s [Australian federal police’s] technology detector dogs.

“The woman will now be interviewed by police and the investigation remains ongoing.”
www.theguardian.com

Erin Patterson charged with murder over suspected mushroom poisoning deaths

Patterson, who has denied any wrongdoing, was arrested on Thursday over the family lunch in the rural town of Leongatha
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
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