GUILTY Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 *Arrest* #17

[JBowie]

Are jobs not protected while jurors are on duty?

In Oz, yes they are.

As per the provisions outlined in the Jury Act 1977- and the Jury Amendment Act 2010, employers cannot:

• force employees to take own leave, such as recreation or sick leave, while doing jury service (This includes the day they go to court for a jury summons)
• dismiss, injure or alter their employee's position for doing jury service
• ask employees to work on any day that they are serving as jurors
• ask employees to do additional hours or work to make up for time that they missed as a result of jury service

An employer who contravenes any of these laws, can be fined $22,000 (corporation) or $5,500 (individual) under Section 69 of the Jury Act 1977.

 

[MaxDecimus13]

Here is a very early reference to a mushroom fatality in Australia. Just for a little general interest while we wait.

POISONOUS MUSHROOMS. - The Warrnambool Standard (Vic. : 1872 - 1900 ; 1914 - 1918) - 12 May 1885

A boy has died at Echuca through eating poisonous mushrooms. ...

trove.nla.gov.au

12 May 1885

View attachment 599700

'...they were served in a Mutton Stew by a Mr Cornelius Patterson who claimed it was a tragedy as he loved the boy.'

 

[MaxDecimus13]

Totally agree. I was just about to post similar thoughts.

I only post because that would be me. I'd be worrying over the reasonable doubt and settle for manslaughter as a nice compromise.

At least this way I'd be forced into a decision. I just wish they had 11-1 or something similar so one rogue person couldn't derail the whole thing.

 

[MaxDecimus13]

Yes, I agree. I'd very much doubt the jury would be made to wait until Monday to deliver the verdict if it is reached tomorrow.

Too much chance of it being leaked I'd have thought.

 

[MaxDecimus13]

During my job back when Lindys trial was on,
I was in retail sales and spoke to hundreds of people a day.

I didn't come across even one other person who thought like me that she didn't do it.

Everyone was convinced, right from the first photos of her, looking not like she was expected to look.

Kind of like the way everyone has pounced on Erin Patterson for how she looked.
From the first look at her, even before any evidence was known, she was guilty, you could just take one look and you knew.

Sadly all these years and it seems nothing has changed.

The Lindy Patterson case should serve as a warning in any trial like that of how people can make snap judgements on how they believe people should be behaving etc. I do see some of this sort of behaviour in the EP case and the callousness of how some people talk about her and how she cried outside of her home and how she didn't respond properly on the stand.

However, it can only ever be a check against that sort of behaviour, it isn't a model that can be applied to other cases. As others have made it clear, evidence wise there is no similarity. Even if EP is innocent there are things she has done that have led to this trial. Regardless of the verdict, it can't ever go down as a witchhunt against an innocent woman.

 

[Moll]

'...they were served in a Mutton Stew by a Mr Cornelius Patterson who claimed it was a tragedy as he loved the boy.'

I believed you for a moment there.

 

[ch_13]

Kind of like the way everyone has pounced on Erin Patterson for how she looked.
From the first look at her, even before any evidence was known, she was guilty, you could just take one look and you knew.

RSBM.

Hmm, this comment had me curious. So, I went back to thread #1. The very first time EP appeared in public in the carport interview.

Post in thread 'Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023'

Aug 7, 2023

Cook of deadly suspected mushroom meal denies foul play

A woman at the centre of a deadly suspected mushroom poisoning of four people has spoken of her devastation and denied any wrongdoing.

www.perthnow.com.au

• TootsieFootsie

• 

I went through about 50 pages of posts, and I can't find a single one that commented about her looks. Now, I was skimming so it's possible I missed one or two, but that certainly wasn't the general tenor of the thread. In fact, I would say that in the beginning there wasn't a whole lot of consensus as to her culpability. It was mostly just confusion about what could have possibly happened. There were some comments about whether she was really crying or not in that interview, but that's not the same thing.

Maybe the conversation was different on Facebook or Twitter/X, I'm not a regular user of those platforms so I can't say. But I think it's unfair to tar WS users by saying they pre-judged her on the way she looked.

 

[MsMarple]

RSBM.

Hmm, this comment had me curious. So, I went back to thread #1. The very first time EP appeared in public in the carport interview.

Post in thread 'Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023'

Aug 7, 2023

Cook of deadly suspected mushroom meal denies foul play

A woman at the centre of a deadly suspected mushroom poisoning of four people has spoken of her devastation and denied any wrongdoing.

www.perthnow.com.au

• TootsieFootsie

• 

I went through about 50 pages of posts, and I can't find a single one that commented about her looks. Now, I was skimming so it's possible I missed one or two, but that certainly wasn't the general tenor of the thread. In fact, I would say that in the beginning there wasn't a whole lot of consensus as to her culpability. It was mostly just confusion about what could have possibly happened. There were some comments about whether she was really crying or not in that interview, but that's not the same thing.

Maybe the conversation was different on Facebook or Twitter/X, I'm not a regular user of those platforms so I can't say. But I think it's unfair to tar WS users by saying they pre-judged her on the way she looked.

Funny, I did the same a couple days ago and found it similar to you. I was actually looking for an old link (no luck) and found it interesting anyway.

Speaking for myself it was the released statement that made me wonder how truthful the defendant’s story was. Destroying/hiding evidence isn’t a great look when a number of people are dying and children are also at risk. JMO

 

[ellyvantelli]

Picking up from a couple of pages back...

An example of a historical warning about picking mushrooms in Victoria.

Victoria issues urgent health warning against eating death cap and yellow-staining mushrooms

Advisory warns one death cap mushroom could kill an adult as wild mushrooms sprout over multiple states after massive rainfall

www.theguardian.com

Thanks - not that historical, just the year before. Very clear, very detailed, pointing out where they grow and how deadly death caps are. Interesting.

And another from the local paper in Erin’s region, from around the same time she allegedly foraged the death caps, April 20, 2023.

Poisonous mushrooms warning issued for Victoria - South Gippsland Sentinel Times

VICTORIANS are being warned of the dangers of consuming wild mushrooms, as wet and cooler weather provides the ideal growing conditions for certain types of mushrooms. Two particular wild mushroom species – Death Cap mushrooms and Yellow staining...

www.sgst.com.au

So here's another one, from around the same time (21 Apr 2023)

How to Forage for Mushrooms in Australia Without Dying​

21 April, 2023
by Jack Revell

Autumn is arguably the best time of the year in Australia. It’s not disgustingly hot and there is much cause for celebration. No, not Easter or ANZAC Day (AKA, Two-Up Day), but the celebration of mushroom foraging season. Right now, as the temperatures drop and the rains come in, mushrooms are popping up across Australia like, well, mushrooms.

https://thelatch.com.au/how-to-forage-for-mushrooms/

 

[LordCyrus]

In the state of Victoria, a jury is permitted to consider a lesser charge of manslaughter, even if it wasn't one of the actual charges. Therefore one way or another we should be expecting a guilty verdict.

 

[Salah11]

Let’s hope today is the day that Simon and his family get justice. I can not begin to imagine the agony as days pass without a verdict.

 

[Ellery84]

In the state of Victoria, a jury is permitted to consider a lesser charge of manslaughter, even if it wasn't one of the actual charges. Therefore one way or another we should be expecting a guilty verdict.

Thank you, I wasn’t aware of that.

 

[Lisa4]

Speaking for myself it was the released statement that made me wonder how truthful the defendant’s story was.

Agree.

I will say that from the earliest report before we even heard names, I thought it sounded a little implausible but was ready to accept it was a genuine accident.

For me, it was her ensuing statement that did it, all those references to the negative effects it was having on her....... "I" "I" "I".....

 

[BreakingNews]

THIS^^^^ makes sense to me because the usual staff/workers/employees are probably not there on Saturday. And I think they'd need all the bailiffs, court reporters, etc if a Verdict is being read.

However the judge set the hours for the jury to deliberate in this case. The parties involved are given a certain amount of time to arrive back in court. The bailiff has to near the jury all the time they are deliberating. So we may hear something this afternoon.

 

[BreakingNews]

Here is the post I saw in the prior thread---copy/pasted it:

• Yesterday at 3:00 PM

Heard on the radio last night that while the jury can keep deliberating this afternoon and Saturday, the verdict can only be handed down during the usual times the court is in session. So if we haven't heard anything by 1.15pm today, we'll have to wait until next week.

The judge did say the jury could deliberate until 4.15pm today if they wanted to. So he is setting the court hours

 

[MrJ]

When the cop told her that someone had passed away, she said nobody tells ME anything and this is hard for ME. That says it all to me. Regardless of guilt or innocence it's obvious that the accused thinks entirely of herself and her world is more important than anything else imo

 

[MrJ]

And may I say that I hope today a verdict is reached either way!

 

[BreakingNews]

In the state of Victoria, a jury is permitted to consider a lesser charge of manslaughter, even if it wasn't one of the actual charges. Therefore one way or another we should be expecting a guilty verdict.

However the judge has not yet put this on the table, nor has he even mentioned it. So at this stage, manslaughter is not an issue.

 

[MrJ]

Isn't it a half day, I forget what the hours for deliberation are today. Can someone please remind me?

 

[Eloise]

Isn't it a half day, I forget what the hours for deliberation are today. Can someone please remind me?

The jury will deliberate every Monday to Saturday from 10:30am until 4:15pm until a verdict is reached.They can return to the courtroom with any questions they may have during that process.