Patterson evidence pointed to 'deliberate' poisoning, prosecutors say

Lawyers for triple murderer Erin Patterson say "catastrophic" jury arrangements during the closing stages of her trial contributed to an unsafe verdict.

Patterson, who served her relatives a beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms in 2023, was found guilty of three counts of murder and attempted murder at a trial in Morwell last year.

The 51-year-old, who has always maintained her innocence, filed a conviction appeal made up of seven grounds.

Patterson was today beamed into courtroom one of the Supreme Court in Melbourne via a large screen from the Dame Phyllis Frost women's prison.

Wearing a royal blue jumper, she watched proceedings on a laptop and sat forward listening attentively to the legal arguments.

In court, Ian Wilkinson, the sole survivor of the fatal lunch, was in the front row of the public gallery and supported by family. 

Patterson's estranged husband Simon was not present.

Patterson's barrister Richard Edney described a scenario where jurors deciding the case were sequestered in the same hotel as the case's lead police officer and staff from the Office of Public Prosecutions.

This went against the notion that justice needed to be done, as well as being seen to be done in "perhaps one of the most high-profile criminal trials this state has ever had", Mr Edney said.

"We would describe the sequestration that occurred during it as catastrophic,"

he said.

However, under questioning from Court of Appeal judges Lesley Taylor, Stephen McLeish and Peter Kidd, Mr Edney conceded there was no evidence police or prosecutors directly communicated with jurors, who were being supervised by court staff.

Mr Edney said communication could have been "non-verbal" and that jurors may have seen the homicide detective, Stephen Eppingstall, through the motel windows.

There was no CCTV obtained from the motel. The court's "jury keepers" and prosecutors also denied anything improper occurred.

The accommodation issue occurred at the time when there was a shortage of hotel rooms in Traralgon, the town next to Morwell, where the trial was being held.

Appeal could take months

The jury eventually found Patterson guilty of murdering in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, along with Gail's sister Heather, and attempting to murder Ian Wilkinson.

Patterson pleaded her innocence and said she did not know mushrooms in the beef Wellington were poisonous.

The appeal is set down for two days. 

Prosecutors will get the opportunity to respond to the defence appeal grounds and mount their own appeal against Patterson's jail sentence.

The killer's life sentence included the possibility of parole after 33 years — something the prosecution wants removed.

It could take weeks or months for the judges to rule on the appeals.

Defence accuses prosecution of 'cherry picking'

Patterson's barristers Mr Edney and Veronika Drago today accused the trial prosecutors of conducting an "unfair" cross-examination of the Leongatha mother.

Patterson spent days in the witness box being questioned by then-prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC, at times resulting in tense exchanges between the pair.

"There's a real risk of there being improper inferences left in the minds of the jury," Mr Edney said.

Mr Edney also accused Dr Rogers of "cherry picking" evidence from witnesses when she made her final address to the jury.

He conceded that the same complaint was made by the lead defence barrister at the time, Colin Mandy SC, who chose not to apply for a mistrial.

Judge rulings 'compelled' Patterson to give evidence, court hears

Ms Drago said mobile phone tower evidence from the prosecution, which suggested Patterson may have visited nearby areas where death cap mushrooms were sighted, turned "nothing into something".

She also complained that because of rulings made by the trial judge Patterson was "compelled" to step into the witness box and testify about photos of mushrooms she had taken years before the fatal lunch.

"It compromised her right to silence,"

Ms Drago said.

Ms Drago stopped short of saying the ruling forced Patterson into the witness box altogether, though.