Judge's warning to mushroom trial jurors
Jurors in Erin Patterson's triple-murder trial were delivered a firm warning on Wednesday afternoon after a question and answer exchange between the prosecution and a digital forensics officer.
Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder stemming from an deadly beef Wellington lunch she hosted on July 29, 2023, with members of her husband's family.
On Wednesday, Victoria Police senor digital forensic officer Shamen Fox-Henry was the sole witness called to give evidence and is expected to return to the stand when the trial resumes at 11.30am on Thursday. Senior digital forensics officer Shamen Fox-Henry will return to court on Thursday. NewsWire/Ian Currie Credit: News Corp Australia
Mr Fox-Henry told the court he was tasked with generating a report about the contents of a Cooler Master computer seized from Ms Patterson's home following the lunch.
He took the jury through a series of records that captured online activity on the device in the evening of March 28, 2022.
One of the records captured a visit to a specific page on the citizen science website iNaturalist at 7.23pm.
'Deathcap from Melbourne, Vic, Australia on May 18 2022 … Bricker Reserve, Moorabbin - iNaturalist,' the headline for the page read.
Mr Fox-Henry was quizzed by prosecutor Jane Warren about the specific URL listed and, if it remained available online, if one copied the URL into a browser the web page would load.
He confirmed that it would. Erin Patterson has pleaded not guilty, with her defence arguing the deaths were a tragic accident. Brooke Grebert-Craig. Credit: Supplied
The exchange prompted a warning from Justice Christoper Beale that the jury should not test this out themselves.
'Don't be tempted to put these URL searches into Google and conduct your own investigations overnight,' he said.
The warning echos Justice Beale's direction to jurors at the start of the trial that the must decide the case only on the evidence adduced in court.
'When you retire to consider your verdict, you will have heard or received in court all the information that you need to make your decision,' he said.
'You must not conduct your own research into the case or discuss the case with others who are not on the jury.' Erin Patterson and her estranged husband Simon Patterson. NewsWire Credit: NewsWire
Ms Patterson is facing trial accused of murdering her husband Simon Patterson's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt Heather Wilkinson.
Ms Wilkinson's husband, Korumburra Baptist Church pastor Ian Wilkinson, fell gravely ill but recovered.
Prosecutors allege Ms Patterson deliberately spiked the lunch with 'murderous intent', while her defence argues the case is a 'tragic accident'.
The trial continues.
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