UK man wrongly convicted of murder freed after 38 years
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RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Guilty verdict in mushroom murder trial: What happens if there's an appeal?
By Mikaela Ortolan for ABC Erin Patterson arriving in the back of a prison transport vehicle at Latrobe Valley Magistrate's Court in Morwell, Australia. Photo: AFP / MARTIN KEEP After a marathon trial involving more than 50 witnesses, Erin Patterson has been found guilty by a jury of murdering three relatives by lacing their meals with death cap mushrooms. The high-profile case has captured a global audience, with seats at Morwell's Latrobe Valley Law Courts in regional Victoria filling each day for more than two months. After about a week of deliberations, a Supreme Court jury on Monday delivered its verdict, finding the 50-year-old guilty of murdering Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson. It also found her guilty of the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, the only surviving guest of the lunch. But the case's time in the courts may not be over, with the possibility Patterson could appeal the decision. Patterson will have 28 days from the date of her sentence to begin the process of lodging an appeal, according to the Supreme Court of Victoria. Her legal team can appeal either the guilty verdict itself, the sentence handed down or both of those things together. Outside of this window, convicted people must file for an extension of time which may or may not be accepted by the courts. University of Newcastle criminology researcher Xanthe Mallett said the prosecution would also have the opportunity to appeal a sentence once that had been handed down. "If in cases where the sentence is considered to be too lenient, the prosecution can appeal that - the severity of the sentence, but they can't appeal a not-guilty verdict," she said. Erin Patterson was found guilty on three counts of murder and one of attempted murder today. Photo: ABC News There are a number of grounds the defence can appeal on. High-profile barrister Robert Richter KC said the most common ground was that the verdict was unsatisfactory and unreasonable. "The Court of Appeal might find that it isn't sufficient to justify a conviction," he said. "But that on its own is a very difficult ground to get home, because it sort of does not usurp the function of the jury, but what it does is it looks at what a jury ought to have concluded or should have concluded." Richter said if any of the directions given to the jury had misstated the law, it could be grounds for an appeal, but noted the judge presiding over the high-profile case had been "very careful". Mallett said the defence would need to demonstrate that there was some error of law or some problem that was sufficient to be granted grounds of appeal. "Every case is obviously unique," Mallett said. "If [the defence] appeal ... or want to appeal, they would look at every part of the case, looking for anything that they felt was a legal justification." If an application to appeal is granted, the matter will go before the Court of Appeal but it could take months before a court date is set. Richter said if the appeal succeeded in front of a panel of three judges in the Court of Appeal, there were two possibilities. "One is to say the evidence was not sufficient to produce a verdict beyond reasonable doubt," he said. "Or alternatively there have been errors and so the verdict has to be quashed." If the verdict is quashed a retrial could be ordered. If an application for leave to appeal is rejected in the first instance by the Court of Appeal, relevant parties could apply for leave to appeal in the High Court. "That requires demonstrating particular problems that have a special application in the criminal law that the High Court would accept as important enough to give leave to appeal," Richter said. "But the percentage of cases that get special leave to appeal in criminal matters is very, very low." If leave to appeal is not granted, the verdict or sentence stands and the matter does not continue further. - ABC
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Erin Patterson guilty of all charges in mushroom murder trial
Erin Patterson has been found guilty of murdering three of her estranged husband's relatives, by serving them beef Wellingtons containing death cap mushrooms. The jury also found Patterson guilty of attempting to murder Heather's husband Ian, who survived the mushroom poisoning but spent months in hospital. Michael Giles of the South Gippsland Sentinel-Times has been covering the trial and spoke to Lisa Owen. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
Mushroom murder trial: Erin Patterson found guilty on all charges
Erin Patterson had been on trial for three counts of murder and one of attempted murder. Photo: AFP / PAUL TYQUIN Erin Patterson has been found guilty of the murders of three relatives and the attempted murder of another after serving them a meal with deadly mushrooms. The Supreme Court jury reached the verdicts this afternoon after a week of deliberations. The court was on lunch break when jurors rung the bell today. As the verdict was handed down, Patterson did not express any obvious outward emotion, watching the process from inside the courtroom. Patterson was charged with three murder counts and an attempted murder count, after the beef Wellington lunch she made for her in-laws in 2023 contained toxic death cap mushrooms. Her estranged husband's parents and aunt died after eating the meal, while his uncle was critically ill, but survived. Patterson's trial took place over 11 weeks in the rural town of Morwell. The defence argued the mushrooms accidentally went into the meal, while prosecutors said Patterson engaged in an elaborate deception to deliberately kill her in laws. Jurors needed to reach a unanimous verdict for each of the four charges Patterson faces. Before her trial began, prosecutors dropped three attempted murder charges, related to accusations that she tried to kill her estranged husband. - more to come - ABC
