Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #15 *Arrest*

[MrJ]

Just now
Defence addresses witness Christine Hunt

By Judd Boaz

Mr Mandy begins proceedings today by raising the testimony of Christine Hunt, who gave evidence earlier in the trial.

Ms Hunt says she was an online friend of Erin Patterson.

Mr Mandy says, however, that Ms Hunt was not a part of a close-knit private Facebook group chat.

He says that only Ms Hunt was asked about Erin's religious beliefs by the prosecution, while those in the private chat group were not asked the same question.

"That's an example, we say, of picking and choosing the evidence that suits them and ignoring the others," Mr Mandy says.

 

[MrJ]

wtf is this

Just now
Defence tells jury to discount witness testimony

By Judd Boaz

Mr Mandy then urges the jury to use caution when considering whatever Ms Hunt said in court.

"You should be reluctant to act on her evidence without properly considering all that context," he says

"Erin Patterson was not an atheist."

Mr Mandy then makes a correction on a point from yesterday's proceedings.

He had previously said witness Christine McKenzie was not an expert in toxic mushrooms.

Mr Mandy says that Ms McKenzie was very experienced in that field, but argues she was not the pre-eminent expert in the field.

 

[brisbanemum]

I am aware of people hiding their binge eating. However, this binge eating seemed to appear pretty late in the trial. And Mandy is backing it for sure. Is there any other mention of binge eating apart from that of the accused bringing it up late in the trial? And what Mandy claimed about the details of the accused not knowing what was vomited & the way the details surrounding the vomit are mentioned in the defence closing seems just another example of fuzzy logic. And suggesting some of the toxin was vomited? The experts were never asked about this because it only came up after they testified didn’t it? Surely she would have told the folks at the hospital that she had vomited on Sat night? But perhaps it hadn’t been part of the narrative at that stage. All sorts of things have popped up late and morphed. Bypass surgery morphed into liposuction. And I don’t believe anyone would be able to book in for liposuction without having a consult prior.

She’s a purported bulimic. She would have made herself vomit at the hospital so she could show her vomit to the nurse. It’s just another lie that was told after the fact to fill in the holes in her story. MOO.

 

[LinasK]

I call the narrative of the white plates BS. The kids and the son’s friend arrived after the lunch had ended, probably while or after they were having dessert. The small white plates the son took to the kitchen and put in the dish washer would have been the dessert plates. They had nothing to do with the four grey and the one orange/tan plate the lunch had been served on.

Exactly! Light grey could be confused with white, but orange sure can't be!

 

[ch_13]

Re different plates. I don't worry about there being different plates. She didn't host much, so may have only had a good set of 4. So she gave the 4 good plates to the guests, and used the odd one for herself. Wouldn't most of us do that?

That's not Erin's testimony. She explicitly said that she did not set aside a particular plate for herself:

Patterson said she plated up five beef Wellington dishes with mashed potatoes and green beans and told her guests to grab a plate. She said there were no assigned plates or seats at the table.

Mushroom deaths trial: Erin Patterson gives evidence for a third day

A woman accused of murdering three of her former in-laws by deliberately poisoning their meal has recalled the deadly day's events for the first time.

www.sbs.com.au

 

[MrJ]

Key Event
1m ago
Another correction by the defence

By Judd Boaz

Mr Mandy clarifies a statement from yesterday when he told the jury that Ms Patterson had been tasting her mushroom paste while cooking it.

He corrects the record and says there is no evidence that Erin tasted it after adding the allegedly poisoned mushrooms.

"Erin did not say in her evidence that she had actually tasted the duxelles after adding the dried mushrooms," he says.

"But using your common sense, you might expect that was exactly what would happen."

 

[Cliff Hardy]

That means we probably have two more days of Mandy. IMO

A post above seems to suggest Mandy will conclude his speel today.

'Mr Mandy will complete his closing address today and then there are legal matters to attend to and I will be sending you home then ... think of it as a second Easter," Justice Beale told the jury'

 

[LinasK]

BBM. It's not hard for the person preparing the individual BW pasties to mark one in a way others might not notice.

How? I'm imagining putting an X on top of the dough.

 

[ch_13]

Mr Mandy then makes a correction on a point from yesterday's proceedings.

He had previously said witness Christine McKenzie was not an expert in toxic mushrooms.

Mr Mandy says that Ms McKenzie was very experienced in that field, but argues she was not the pre-eminent expert in the field.

Key Event
1m ago
Another correction by the defence

By Judd Boaz

Mr Mandy clarifies a statement from yesterday when he told the jury that Ms Patterson had been tasting her mushroom paste while cooking it.

He corrects the record and says there is no evidence that Erin tasted it after adding the allegedly poisoned mushrooms.

"Erin did not say in her evidence that she had actually tasted the duxelles after adding the dried mushrooms," he says.

"But using your common sense, you might expect that was exactly what would happen."

Hmm, seems like Mandy may have gotten his knuckles wrapped and was forced to correct his so-called "misstatements".

 

[MrJ]

Just now
Son's memory of morning after lunch analysed

By Judd Boaz

Mr Mandy moves onto evidence given by Erin Patterson's son that his mother was drinking coffee on the morning after the lunch.

He calls into question the accuracy of Erin's son's analysis of the morning.

"Was this [teenaged] boy watching his mother like a hawk all morning?" Mr Mandy asks the jury.

Mr Mandy suggests he instead acted like most teenagers and went to play computer games instead of focusing on his mother.

He then accuses the prosecution of again being misleading with their evidence, noting the crown had ignored other aspects of his testimony.

"[Her son] also said she didn't sound like her usual happy self," Mr Mandy says.

 

[Megnut]

Key Event
1m ago
Another correction by the defence

By Judd Boaz

Mr Mandy clarifies a statement from yesterday when he told the jury that Ms Patterson had been tasting her mushroom paste while cooking it.

He corrects the record and says there is no evidence that Erin tasted it after adding the allegedly poisoned mushrooms.

"Erin did not say in her evidence that she had actually tasted the duxelles after adding the dried mushrooms," he says.

"But using your common sense, you might expect that was exactly what would happen."

Is it opposite day? Everything he has said so far, he's now going to say the opposite in the hopes that the jury will be so confused they won't notice he's circling the drain?

It's going to be a long day but a short trip.

JMO

 

[lazymaiden07]

Jury 'should be reluctant' with one witness, defence says​

Oh the irony.....

 

[MrJ]

This just seems like bad faith

1m ago
Drive to Tyabb on Sunday addressed

By Judd Boaz

The defence questions the prosecution's arguments around Erin Patterson driving to a flying lesson in Tyabb on the Sunday after the lunch.

Mr Mandy argues that someone pretending to be ill would not have gone through the ordeal a long journey.

"Why would she go on this journey to Tyabb?" Mr Mandy says.

"If she was faking being unwell, she'd go to bed and leave this trail for [her children]."

Mr Mandy again casts doubt over the recollections of Erin's son.

During the trial, Erin told the jury she was forced to pull the car over during the drive to Tyabb due to a bout of diarrhoea.

In his police interview, Erin's son told investigators he had no recollection of his mother stopping to go to the toilet in the bushes.

Mr Mandy counters that her son also did not mention a documented stop at the Caldermeade BP.

"He didn't recall either of them," Mr Mandy says.

The defence suggests to the jury that if her son's memory was faultless, he would have told police about a stop at the petrol station.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

A 'cold and brutal murder,' says prosecutor​

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC told the jury that Basham lay in wait for his estranged wife for more than an hour, and attacked her after she drove into the garage.



Just some interesting info about Dr Nannette Rogers SC
The Crown Prosecutor in this trial


Melbourne law fraternity is abound with dozens and dozens of female lawyers with decades of experiencebetween them who blazed a trail with their work as solicitors, prosecutors, barristers and senior counsel.

These are just some of the very many Melbourne’s female lawyers who are at the top of their game in 2022.

NANETTE ROGERS, SC Nanette Rogers during her time as a top NT prosecutor.

Nanette Rogers is one of Victoria’s most experienced barristers. Ms Rogers, a senior Crown prosecutor, has held the reins at many high-profile criminal matters.

Ms Rogers recently ran a successful prosecution against murderer Adrian Basham, who killed his wife in 2018






A post-mortem revealed that Ms Fraser had 41 blunt force injuries to her body.

Ms Rogers told the jury the suggestion that Ms Fraser had tied a "neat" and "complex" knot behind her own head after being violently assaulted was "absolute rubbish".

"This was a staged suicide by the accused with the nice touch of the knocked over step ladder, very close to the hanging body," Ms Rogers said.

"This was not a suicide. Samantha Fraser did not kill herself after being assaulted so extensively by the accused.

"It was a cold and brutal murder, and it was Adrian Basham who did it."

She told the court that after killing his estranged wife, Basham was seen "running" from the scene.

Investigators later found the killer's DNA under Ms Fraser's fingernails.

"That's consistent with Samantha Fraser fighting back with the accused when he was assaulting her," Ms Rogers said.

"She fought desperately for her life. There was deep bruising to her hands and wrists, consistent with being restrained and she managed to scratch his nose and arm."

 

[MrJ]

Key Event
1m ago
Erin's reluctance to stay in hospital addressed by defence

By Judd Boaz

Erin Patterson's strong desire to leave hospital is addressed by Mr Mandy.

The defence submits to the jury that the only reasonable explanation is that Erin felt overwhelmed by the situation, believing she was only making a brief stop at hospital.

"An extremely intense five minute interaction where she was told that she would be admitted and transferred to another hospital in Melbourne," Ms Patterson.

"She was not refusing treatment, she was saying she had things to do.

"She was plainly struggling to process what she was being told."

Mr Mandy tells the jury that her desire to get her affairs at home in order and prepare her daughter for ballet was entirely reasonable.

 

[JBowie]

Mr Mandy tells the jury that her desire to get her affairs at home in order and prepare her daughter for ballet was entirely reasonable.

... as is the notion of pigs flying.

 

[MrJ]

seriously?

Key Event
Just now
Mobile phone data evidence challenged by defence

By Judd Boaz

Mr Mandy draws the jury to mobile phone network data which showed that Erin Patterson's phone pinged briefly to the Outtrim base station during her time away from the hospital.

The prosecution argued in its closing that this was consistent with Erin travelling south-west of Leongatha.

The defence challenges this, saying the prosecution ignored alternative explanations by telecommunications expert Matthew Sorell.

Mr Mandy reads out a transcript from Dr Sorell who explained that a mobile phone appearing to ping on another base station could possibly be explained by someone moving from the front of a house to the back of a house.

"These records are consistent with her never leaving the house," Mr Mandy says.

"This is another example of the prosecution giving you a selective impression of the evidence."

 

[Scooby-Doo]

This just seems like bad faith

1m ago
Drive to Tyabb on Sunday addressed

By Judd Boaz

The defence questions the prosecution's arguments around Erin Patterson driving to a flying lesson in Tyabb on the Sunday after the lunch.

Mr Mandy argues that someone pretending to be ill would not have gone through the ordeal a long journey.

"Why would she go on this journey to Tyabb?" Mr Mandy says.

"If she was faking being unwell, she'd go to bed and leave this trail for [her children]."

Mr Mandy again casts doubt over the recollections of Erin's son.

During the trial, Erin told the jury she was forced to pull the car over during the drive to Tyabb due to a bout of diarrhoea.

In his police interview, Erin's son told investigators he had no recollection of his mother stopping to go to the toilet in the bushes.

Mr Mandy counters that her son also did not mention a documented stop at the Caldermeade BP.

"He didn't recall either of them," Mr Mandy says.

The defence suggests to the jury that if her son's memory was faultless, he would have told police about a stop at the petrol station.

Oh Mr Mandy On the journey, she stopped at a BP service station in Caldermeade, where Ms Patterson purchased sour confectionery, a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich and a sweet chilli chicken wrap after stepping into the bathroom for nine seconds..!!

Erin was more interested in feeding her gut and did a DELIBERATE stop to the toilet for 9 seconds, not enough time to pull her white pants down..!

 

[SilentHill]

If I was a juror on this case I would be internally screaming by now!

The defense is getting messier every day IMO

 

[MrJ]

I'm sorry folks...

1m ago
We return to Erin Patterson's bowel movements

By Judd Boaz

The stool samples given by Erin Patterson at Leongatha Hospital become a focus once more.

Mr Mandy says the samples of watery liquid produced by Ms Patterson were labelled by a nurse, Mairim Cespon, as stool.

He says Ms Cespon was under oath and told the jury it was a stool sample, and that this was never questioned by the prosecution.