Erin Patterson - We the members of the MN jury find the defendant Guilty or Not Guilty?

[Dustyblue]

Well here we are, after 2 years of head-scratching speculation and many weeks of trial detail-thrashing. It looks like the Judge will give his directions to the jury on Tuesday, after which they'll be sequestered in a local motel (I do not envy them this) to reach a verdict.

Clearly we're not privy to every last piece of evidence shown at the trial, but those of us who've been following closely will surely have formed an opinion one war or the other.

So, I ask you- if you were on the jury- what would your verdict be?

‘It’s complicated’: What’s stopping the release of Leongatha medical records

He's still the bloke who rang the police and left that clear message which was part of them all taking her seriously as a potential murder suspect,

EP is the same age as me- 51. She's likely to die in prison anyway.

I'm still kicking myself for not turning up for jury duty at Morwell at the time. I've been called up again since, but hell no- nothing could compare.

Yep, that's him.

I think guilty. You might have a few questions I guess, around motive mainly. But reasonable doubt of her guilt? Too much circumstantial evidence to me. All of which only points one way - to her guilt. Had they all died I think she was probably counting on speculation and conjecture, but ultimately enough reasonable doubt to get away with it. She could have done lots of crying and hand wringing. Unfortunately for her one victim survived so she panicked as there’s too much to just explain away innocently.

Well, she's been tried and found guilty.

She's got her legal team appealing that, and also the prosecution appealing the (too short in their view) length of her sentence.

I think it is really improbable the whole case will be overturned, declared a mistrial, and a new trial set.

It also sends bizarre that they are trying to say all the evidence of her picking mushrooms shouldn’t be included. Given quite a lot of evidence was excluded anyway - the first trip to the tip for one- I can’t see any reason to exclude more.

Plus it is all out in the public now so how would they ensure the new jury didn’t already know about it?

I can’t believe how invested I got last time (down to the choice to wear white trousers with explosive diahoreah) but I’m up for more.

I doubt her appeal will go through.

My favourite thread is back!

Imagine if the conviction is quashed..... There are no guaranteed outcomes to this are there?

If that happened (gulp!), would there be another trial anyone know?

Edit, I missed the above post by @velvetandsatin oops.

"Patterson will face a two-day hearing that starts on Wednesday at Victoria's Court of Appeal in Melbourne's CBD.

The hearing is an application for leave to appeal, which is a formal request to the court to hear the appeal. ...

The prosecution and defence will submit written and oral arguments, before a full panel of three judges will determine whether the case has merit for an appeal.

If Patterson is successful, the court could quash her convictions and order a retrial, or acquit her.

If the court rules against her, her convictions will stand, and she will serve out the remainder of her sentence.

In that instance, she could appeal to the High Court, which is Australia's highest court and can overturn decisions made in lower courts.

The Director of Public Prosecutions is also appealing the length of the sentence, arguing Patterson — who will be 82 years old when she is eligible for parole in 2056 — should be locked up for life.

If they are successful, Patterson could be re-sentenced to life without parole or a non-parole period of greater than 33 years."

Why mushroom killer Erin Patterson is returning to court this week | SBS News

God, it's complicated. They don't seem to think she'll be there herself.

I really do think she is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. The evidence against her is pretty conclusive.

Excited to be discussing this case again. Would be karma if they increased her sentence!
I do hope her kids are doing OK. Hope they have had all the therapy and support they need.

The only way her sentence will be lessened or completely quashed is by new evidence coming to light that has previously not be put to the court. Other than that she has Buckley's. I get the feeling she's just using the court to waste time because she refuses to take responsibility for what she has done. (My opinion).

Hello again!

I think she’s guilty beyond reasonable doubt. I think she thought she was really clever and would get away with it, so she must be fuming that it didn’t go to plan.

I know Justice Beale had a case where the DPP objected and the sentence was lengthened. But I have read that he has never had a murder or attempted murder case overturned. So that's good to know. From everything I read about the trial, he seems to run a tight ship.

The seven grounds the defence are putting forward may have legs. Well, some of them may, others are a bit silly to my mind, but I guess they have to try. Two days seems a brief amount ot time for all of these decisions,

Christ, if her conviction is overturned I will lose my shit. I agree with Velvet though, Justice Beale was so thorough it seems hugely unlikely.

Did anyone else read "The Mushroom Tapes" by Chloe Hooper, Helen Garner & Sarah Krasnostein? I think it was the best of the books about this. It won an Australian Book Industry Award earlier this year.

We haven't heard anything about Simon's supposedly planned memoir since April. Now that's a book I'd read!

Yes! His publicist said they would announce the name of the publisher in a few weeks, back in April - I can't find it. It was supposedly being released after the appeal, so maybe they will get it out for Christmas!

I enjoyed it. Sarah Krasnostein made some really interesting points. They all came up with some interesting observations and analyses at different moments. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't attend the trial everyday, though.

I thought the one that looked the dodgiest (told from the point of view of a fictional female jurer on the case) was in fact the best book in terms of actually covering the case. Garner et al didn't seem to know much about it.

I thought the one that looked the dodgiest (told from the point of view of a fictional female jurer on the case) was in fact the best book in terms of actually covering the case. Garner et al didn't seem to know much about it.

Which one was that? I didn't read it, sounds good!

"The Mushroom Murders" by Greg Haddrick.

I listened to the Helen Garner et al book and was underwhelmed by it - it didn't really tell me anything new.

I'd LOVE to read Simon's book though! Although wonder how his kids would feel about it.

Apparently the appeals are going to be livestreamed on the Supreme Court website. Starting from 10.15 am tomorrow (Wednesday 19th) and again on Thurs 20th.

Erin Patterson appeals livestreamed | The Supreme Court of Victoria

Vimeo link address (also found on Supreme Court page linked above:

PATTERSON, Erin S EAPCR 2025 0218 & S EAPCR 2025 0226

Think this summary is more my speed:

Live: Mushroom killer Erin Patterson appeals murder conviction - ABC News