It's cold in Morwell, the sort of ten degree day where you seriously contemplate wearing a puffer jacket indoors, a sort of windless chill that settles over the rolling hills of Gippsland and seeps into your bones. But in the Latro Valley law courts today there was nothing but heat as Crown Prosecutor Nannette Rogers grilled Aaron Patterson. At one stage, Doctor Rogers brought erin to evidence from her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, peppering her with questions about a phone call they had.
Are you making this up as you go along, miss Patterson?
No?
This was one of several fiery exchanges the jury heard in courtroom for today. I'm Brooke Greebert Craig, and this is the mushroom call. I'm back in Morewell with my colleague, court reporter Laura Plussella. Hi, Laura hey Brook.
The long weekend is over and we're here for day twenty nine of Aaron Patterson's murder trial.
Yes week seven and a few more to go. Quite a bit happened in court today. Aaron was once again in the witness box.
This is now her third day of cross examination, and doctor Rogers took her today to the evidence of almost a dozen witnesses who the jury have heard from previously, and Aaron at times said today that those witnesses were mistaken in their evidence.
Let's start with the first topic of the day. Doctor Rodgers asked Aaron about a pre surgery appointment she claimed she had booked to explore gastric bypass surgery. Aaron said the appointment was at Enrich Clinic in Melbourne on September thirteen, twenty twenty three.
To remind our listeners, Aaron has admitted she misled her guests at the lunch by telling them she potentially needed treatment for cancer to cover up the fact that she was planning to have this surgery. Today, doctor Rogers asked erin whether she agreed that the Enrich Clinic offers services in cosmetic dermatology. Aaron replied that she didn't know. Then doctor Rogers put a specific question to her. Here's their exchange in court today. It's been voiced by actors.
The Enriched Clinic does not offer gastric bypass surgery or gastric sleeve surgery. Agree or disagree, I don't know the Enriched clinic does not conduct assessments relating to gastric bypass surgery or gastric sleeve surgery. Agree or disagree, I don't know, but I'm a bit puzzled in what way.
Well that was I had an appointment with them, and that's what my memory is that the appointment was for. So that's why I'm puzzled.
Your appointment at the Enriched Clinic, the appointment that you have told this jury about on Friday, had nothing to do with gastric bypass surgery.
Agree or disagree, Well, it would have been related to weight loss surgery. Perhaps it was a different procedure I was doing through them, and I was looking into liposuction as well.
When you gave sworn evidence to this jury last Friday that you had a pre surgery appointment for guest bypass surgery booked in for early September with the and Rich Clinic in Melbourne, that was a lie. Agree or disagree?
No, it wasn't a lie. That's what my memory was.
Doctor Rogers also asked Aaron questions in relation to citizen website I naturalist.
It was at this point that we picked up from the cross examination on Friday. Erin was asked a question about I Naturalist, specifically around whether or not she had an interest in death cap mushrooms, but she never got a chance to answer that question because Justice Christopher Beale adjourned the court. Doctor Rogers returned to this topic today and suggested to Aaron that her interest in death caps
was derived from their well known toxicity. Erin conceded that that was probably the case, but that was only because she wanted to know whether the dangerous mushrooms could be found in South Gippsland because she was worried they were toxic to dogs. During this line of questioning, Erin was asked about a death cap mushroom sighting on I Natural Life that appeared to be accessed by a computer in
her house on May twenty eighth, twenty twenty two. This sighting was in Morabin at a place called Bricker Reserve. After Doctor Rogers asked Erin about this sighting, Erin interrupted her. Here is how she interjected.
Now I'm moving on to a different topic.
Before you do, Dr Rogers. Within this record is that second visit to Bricker Reserve that I was talking about seven twenty three, sixteen and seven twenty three eighteen.
Miss Patterson, I'm the person who asks the questions. If there's something that needs to be clarified in re examination, then your barrister will do so, no problem.
Doctor Rogers then questioned Erin more about the lunch on July twenty nine and how it was plated. In the second week of the trial, Ian Wilkinson told the jury the guest eight off gray plates, while Aaron Ate off a smaller, orange tanned plate.
During her evidence in chief last week, Erin told the jury that she used the dinner plates that she had. When asked to expand on her answer, she said that she thought there was a couple of black plates, a couple of white plates, one that was red on top with black underneath, and she also made reference to a plate her daughter had made at kindergarten.
That was multicolored.
Dr Rogers today asked Erin about her description of the plates.
Here's what was said.
So, I suggest that this description that you gave to the jury of the plates you used that the lunch is a lie correct or incorrect incorrect. I suggest that there were four large gray dinner plates correct or incorrect, incorrect, and they were for the four guests. Correct or incorrect incorrect, and the smaller orange tan plate was for yourself correct or incorrect incorrect. Do you say that Ian Wilkinson has given incorrect evidence around the issue of the plates.
Yes, I do.
The exchange continued.
I suggest that you knowingly served death cap mushrooms in the four separate beef Wellingtons you dished up to your four lunch guests, agree or disagree, disagree, and that you served yourself a beef Wellington which did not have death cap mushrooms in it. Agree or disagree, disagree, and you knew that didn't contain death cap mushrooms. Agree or disagree, disagree?
And I suggest that to avoid any error in case you accidentally ate one of the poison beef Wellington's, you took the extra precaution of using a different and smaller plate to plate your non poison serve correct or incorrect incorrect. And that is why you never suffered the severe illnesses that Donald, gail Ian and Heather suffered correct or incorrect incorrect, And that's why you did not have Amanita for Lloyd's poisoning. Correct or incorrect incorrect.
Doctor Rogers then moved to cross examinate to the portion of the mill that Aaron ate she took.
Erin to the evidence of Public Health Director Ronda Stewart from Monash Health, who said Aaron had told her she had eaten half her beef Wellington. Doctor Rogers suggested to Erin today that she had actually eaten the whole beef Wellington, but lied to Professor Stewart to account for the fact she was not seriously ill. Erin disagreed with this accusation.
Doctor Rogers also asked Aaron about the evidence she gave last week that she vomited after the guests had left her house. Aaron has previously told the jury that she has suffered from bolimia for most of her life. Here's another exchange that took place in court today.
Is it your evidence that the vomit was partly constituted by the beef Wellington? Correct?
I have no idea what was in the vomit at all? Well, how could I It's vomit unless you can see a bean or a piece of corn.
Well, you didn't have corn at the lunch.
That was an example.
I suggest that you did not tell a single medical person that you had vomited up after the lunch on the afternoon of twenty ninth of July.
That is true. I did not do that.
I suggest that that is something you would have told them if it were true. Correct or incorrect?
Incorrect?
Do you say it's incorrect because of your embarrassment.
I say it's incorrect because it's what happened.
I asked you a moment ago or I suggested that you didn't tell any person that you had vomited, and you agreed.
I do agree.
Let's move on to the delightful topic of Aaron's bow movements. I know I said a couple of weeks ago. I was hoping to never talk about it again, but it continues to be mentioned during the trial. What was said about it today, Laura?
It was at this point today that doctor Rogers took Erin to the evidence of child protection worker Katrina Cripps. Miss Cripps spoke to Erin on August one while she was at Monash Medical Center receiving treatment. Miss Cripps said that when she asked Erin about the night of the lunch, she told her that she drove her son's friend home but wanted to stay in the car so it could provide a cork to stop herself from having an accident.
But doctor Rogers suggested to Erin today that if she was genuinely worried she would pooh her pants while in the car, she would not have driven her son's friend home in the first place. But Erin told the court that she was not concerned at that point because she was yet to experience diarrhea that evening.
And I will interject here the quote poo your pants was said quite a lot in court today.
Yes, those were the words being used by doctor Rogers today when she was asking Erin these questions. And Erin went on to say that she may have become confused when she made the cork comment to Miss Cripps, saying she may have been thinking about the drive she made the next day to Tiab. She explained that she had a lot of people asking her questions in the days after the lunch and she was trying her best to answer them, but admitted she I have gotten things a little bit wrong along the way.
Erin was also asked about her first presentation at ling Gatha Hospital on July thirty one about eighth five am.
As we've heard previously, Aerin left the hospital after only five minutes after signing a discharge at own risk form. Erin told the court today that she remembered nurse Kylie Ashton and doctor Veronica Foot really wanting her to sign the form. Here's what Erin said today about her conversation with miss Ashton.
You had been told by medical staff that your life was at risk. Do you agree with that?
No? I don't remember anyone saying my life was at risk.
Okay, So the evidence of Kylie Ashton at transcript six four four was that she told you that your life was at risk.
Yeah. I don't remember her saying anything like that.
Do you say she's mistaken? Yes.
Doctor Rogers then suggested to Aaron that she knew her life was not threatened at this point.
I wouldn't say I knew. I didn't think it was.
I suggest that your behavior at leaving Leongatha Hospital a few minutes after you'd presented there was because you knew that you had not consumed death cap mushrooms. Agree or disagree.
I didn't think any of us had, but it wasn't why I was leaving. No.
I suggest that you also left when confronted by the fact that medical staff had identified death cap mushrooms as a reason for the illnesses.
No, that's not why I left.
I suggest that you panicked and absconded because you knew that your use of death cap mushrooms in the meal had been uncovered. Agree or disagree?
Disagree.
The questioning then turned to what Aaron did after she left the hospital at eight ten am, before she returned again at nine point forty eight am. Aaron told the court that when she went home, she packed her daughter's ballet bag, tended to her animals, and had to lie down. Dr Rogers suggested to her that lying down would be the last thing a person would do in these circumstances. Replied, it might be the last thing you'd do, but it was something I did. Doctor Rogers went on to suggest
that she did other things during that period. Here's what was said.
I suggest you were trying to work out how to manage the situation you now found yourself in correct or incorrect incorrect. You had not expected doctors to detect death cap mushroom poisoning so quickly correct or incorrect incorrect. You thought it would be treated as just a case of food poisoning. Correct or incorrect incorrect. Once you were told that the medical staff had detected death cap mushrooms or
suspected it. You had to think quickly correct or incorrect, incorrect, to try and explain why you were not sick, correct, incorrect, to try and cover your tracks correct or incorrect, incorrect. And that's what you spent the one hour and forty minutes doing while you were away from the hospital. Agree or disagree? What are you saying I was doing thinking about ways to cover your tracks.
Oh, okay, you're saying I spent an hour and a half thinking. Is that what you're suggesting? Yes, I'm sure I did some thinking in that time, but it was not about covering my tracks.
Aaron's cross examination finished with doctor Rogers asking her questions about the leftovers of the mill that were found in her outside bin by police. The jury has previously heard that Erin told Senior Constable Adrian Martinez Villa Lobos he could find the leftovers in a paper woolworst bag in that outside bin. Erin was asked today what was contained inside that bag.
Erin said that the bag contained the mushrooms and pastry from one full beef Wellington and the mushrooms and pastry from the part of her serve she did not eat. She earlier told the court that she recalled eating around a quarter to a third of her beef Wellington. Erin denied the suggestion that the six beef Wellington she prepared, which he put in the fridge while she was played up, was for Simon in case he did turn up to
the lunch. Justice Beer wanted clarity on this point, and he asked Eron today, who did you make it for? Aaron replied it was just an extra one. Simon wasn't coming. Here's more of what was said about the leftovers.
I suggest that you disposed of the leftovers in your rubbish bin sometime after your lunch guests left your house at two forty five or thereabouts on Saturday, twenty ninth of July yep and before you represented at Leongatha Hospital at about nine forty five am on thirty pirst of July. Yes, I suggest that you removed the steak from inside the pastry in the leftovers before you put it in the bin. Correct or incorrect? I did do that the steak was
put somewhere else? Correct it was? And where was it put?
Into my children's stomachs?
And I suggest that you certainly did not feed that steak to your children. But we've been over that and you no doubt disagree with me.
Correct.
The day ended with doctor Rogers suggesting to Erin that she assisted police with the whereabouts of the leftovers because she had no means of removing them from her bin herself, given she was at Lengatha Hospital at the time. Aaron replied to that suggestion by saying, why wouldn't I just say there was no leftovers.
Doctor Rogers then suggested that if she didn't tell police where the leftovers were, it would have been suspicious. Aaron replied, I have no idea about that. It was at this point that Justice Bill Court it a day, so doctor Rogers and Aaron will face off again tomorrow as her cross examination spills into a fourth day. To stay up to date with the latest on this case, go to the mushroomcook dot com dot au