Key events
Judge to finish charge on Monday, jury told
The jury has entered the court room in Morwell.
Beale is continuing to deliver his instructions to the jury, known as the judge’s charge.
He tells jurors he will finish his charge on Monday before lunchtime.
“You’ll be able to go home for the weekend,” he says.
After the charge is delivered a ballot will be held to determine which 12 jurors will deliberate the verdicts, Beale says.
“And away you go, so to speak,” he says.
Beale reminds the jury they’ll be sequestered after each day of deliberations.
What the jury heard yesterday
Before today’s proceedings gets underway, here’s a recap of what the jury heard on Wednesday:
1. Justice Christopher Beale told jurors he would not finish instructing them on Thursday, meaning the earliest deliberations could begin is Friday.
2. Beale said the jury did not need to accept the opinions of expert witnesses in the trial. He said the testimony of expert witnesses were pieces of evidence the jury could choose to accept or reject. The jurors were the “judges of the facts in this case”, he said.
3. Beale began outlining Patterson’s alleged incriminating conduct that the prosecution has raised. He said the defence has argued there are other innocent explanations for the conduct the prosecution relies on.
Welcome to day 38
Welcome to day 38 of Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial.
Justice Christopher Beale will continue instructing the jurors this morning before they begin their deliberations later this week.
Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha, in regional Victoria, on 29 July 2023.
She is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and her estranged husband’s aunt, Heather Wilkinson. The attempted murder charge relates to Heather’s husband, Ian.
She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The prosecution alleges Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests with “murderous intent”, but her lawyers say the poisoning was a tragic accident.