The Erin Patterson trial has suffered the surprise loss of a juror mid-trial after the judge was given new information about him.
Justice Christopher Beale discharged a male juror on Thursday after the judge was alerted that the man had been discussing the trial outside of court.
Bringing the jury in late, Justice Beale explained why the juror would no longer be seated alongside them for the duration of the trial.
‘I’m not going to ask you questions, I just want to give you some information,’ he said.
‘Under Section 43 of the Juries Act I have the power to discharge a juror if it appears to me a juror should not continue to act as a juror.’
The jury was told the juror would not be coming back.
‘A few moments ago, I discharged juror 84, I did so because, and as I explained to him, I received information that he had been discussing the case with family and friends, contrary to my instructions,’ Justice Beale said.
He told the jury the information he received about the juror seemed ‘credible’ and therefore had no choice but to let him go.
Erin Patterson is on trial for murdering her in-laws with poison beef Wellingtons
‘I was of the view that it was, at least, a reasonable possibility that the information I received was credible,’ he said.
Justice Beale reminded the jury to refrain from talking about the trial to anyone other than other jurors.
‘I want to remind you of my directions that you should only discuss the case with your fellow jurors in the privacy of the jury room (and) not discuss it with anyone else, it’s vital to the administration of justice,’ he said.
Justice Beale described the incident as an ‘unhappy note’ and urged the jurors to continue to perform their jobs diligently.
‘I hasten to add that I have not made a positive finding that juror number 84 discussed the case with family and friends but neither could I dismiss the possibility that he had.
‘As I said, I was of the view that it was a reasonable possibility that he had breached my instructions,’ he said.
‘I’ve directed him not to contact any of you, directly or indirectly, and I likewise give you the similar direction.
‘You are not to contact him directly or indirectly whilst this trial is continuing, alright, on that unhappy note we’re now ready to resume the trial.’
Justice Christopher Beale was forced to discharge a juror for talking about the trial outside of the court house
Patterson’s legal team, Colin Mandy SC and Sophie Stafford, enter the Latrobe Valley law courts on Thursday
The original 15-person jury had been selected from a pool of 120 people from in and around the Gippsland area where the trial is taking place.
While the loss of the juror comes as a major inconvenience, the trial needs just 12 jurors to make it until the end.
The remaining jurors will then be balloted off.
When the trial recommenced, the jury heard from child protection practitioner Katrina Cripps.
Ms Cripps told the jury she believed Patterson had eaten ‘half’ of her portion of beef Wellington during the fateful lunch.
Ms Cripps had spoken to Patterson in the days after the lunch.
‘I don’t believe she ate it all,’ Ms Cripps said.
Ms Cripps said Patterson told her the lunch guests chose their plates and she took the last one.
Patterson also indicated she put two plates aside for her children.
Patterson has pleaded not guilty to murdering her estranged husband Simon Patterson’s parents Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson.
Child protection practitioner Katrina Cripps appeared at the Latrobe Valley law courts on Thursday
They died after consuming death cap mushrooms served in a beef Wellington during lunch at her Leongatha home in the state’s east.
Pastor Ian Wilkinson was the only guest to survive the toxic lunch.
He appeared in court on Thursday seated at the front of the court room after concluding his own evidence in the opening days of the trial.
Ms Cripps said she visited the children and Patterson’s estranged husband Simon at the Monash Children’s Hospital on August 2.
The jury heard Ms Cripps said she spoke to Patterson at 2.55pm – which was the first time she had ever talked to her.
She said Patterson told her she had the children during the week and Simon had them on weekends.
Patterson told Ms Cripps the children talked about not wanting to stay at their dad’s on weekends anymore because he was ‘sleeping a lot’.
Patterson said Simon had become ‘mean and nasty’ after an issue with child support was raised, the jury heard.
Doctor Dimitri Gerostamoulos appeared at the Latrobe Valley law courts on Thursday
Ms Cripps said Patterson told her Simon had been ‘controlling and emotionally abusive’, which caused her to doubt her ability as a mother and dented her self-esteem.
The jury also heard from Doctor Dimitri Gerostamoulos, head of forensic science at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine and the state’s chief toxicologist.
Dr Gerostamoulos told the court just three table spoons of death cap mushrooms would be enough to kill an adult weighing 70kgs.
The jury heard the devastating effects death caps had on the body once consumed.
Dr Gerostamoulos said poisoning victims would experience vomiting, diarrhoea and progressively get worse without treatment.
He told the court that the body was unable to process the toxin as it would a normal drug.
Dr Gerostamoulos told the jury no trace of the toxin had been found in Patterson or her children.
Nor was it found in Heather Wilkinson or Gail Patterson.
Erin Patterson has pleaded not guilty to murder
However, it was found in Don and Ian Wilkinson.
The jury was shown images of two beef Wellington’s retrieved from Patterson’s home after the lunch.
An analysis of the contents found mushroom paste within the paste-sized Wellingtons found traces of beta-amanitin – the calling card of death cap mushrooms.
Several samples from the dehydrator tested positive for both alpha and beta amanitin.
The trial continues.
