Death Caps & Ballet Slippers: A Legal Chess Game in Patterson Trial

In this bonus episode, we provide an exclusive transcript of Erin's barrister Mr. Colin Mandy SC conducting the final cross-examination in the Mushroom Murder Trial, methodically addressing key points of contention and establishing crucial facts about mushroom foraging seasons.

• Cross-examination reveals wild mushroom foraging is seasonal (autumn only) and would be "incredibly unproductive" in December
• Defense establishes Erin was in New Zealand for approximately half of December 2022, when prosecution claims she should have mentioned foraging
• Mr. Mandy corroborates Erin's account about her daughter's ballet rehearsal with evidence of Simon Patterson cancelling the lesson
• Discussion of Erin's low potassium levels (2.6) and subsequent treatment with supplements while hospitalized
• Erin acknowledges iNaturalist searches were "most likely" her while maintaining she has no specific memory of conducting them

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to a bonus edition of the Mushroom
Murder Trial podcast.
This episode is going first tomy newsletter subscribers, so if
you'd like to get more materialbefore anyone else, just go to
my website,mushroommurdertrialcom.
Now what I'm going to be doingtoday is reading the transcript

(00:23):
from the 12th, and it is Erin'sbarrister, mr Mandy, and they're
going through their finalcross-examination.
Now we're going to talk todayabout mushrooms In the period of
12th of June 2021 to 19th ofDecember 2022, how many months

(00:45):
of wild mushroom picking areavailable, erin?
Well, there's really only oneseason, so the autumn of 22,
march, april and April May.
And how often had you beenpicking wild mushrooms in those
months, erin?
At most a handful of the times,maybe not even that much.

(01:06):
And otherwise, in those 4,000pages of signal messages, how
often did you inform SimonPatterson about what you were
preparing for your own meals?
Erin, almost never.
And why was that, mr Mandy?
I don't think we ever talkedabout what we were eating.
To be honest, it just wasn'trelevant or interesting for

(01:28):
either of us.
You asked some questions aboutyour Facebook friends'
discussions.
That's Mr Mandy.
Erin replies yep, and it wassuggested to you that there were
600, oh, my goodness, 600 pagesof discussions between you and
your Facebook friends, erin?
Yes, and Exhibit 54 are theeight pages of the 600 pages

(01:54):
that the prosecution put intoevidence.
That the prosecution put intoevidence, erin?
Yes, mr Mandy, is it yourunderstanding that the 600 pages
of Facebook messages cover aperiod of about two weeks, from
the 5th of December 2022 tillabout the 19th of December 2022?

(02:17):
Erin, yes, that's myunderstanding, mr Mandy, and it
was suggested to you that inthose 600 pages, there's not a
single mention of foraging formushrooms.
Erin, yes, I remember that, mrMandy, how productive is
December for foraging mushrooms,erin?
It would be incrediblyunproductive.

(02:40):
Mr Mandy, did you ever foragefor mushrooms in any december?
Erin?
No, mr mandy, you were askedsome questions, excuse me, and
were you for the majority ofthat december?
So for about half of that, Iwas in new zealand with?
Okay, you were asked somequestions, excuse me, and where

(03:05):
were you for the majority ofthat December?
That's, mr Mandy.
Erin answers.
So for about half of that, Iwas in New Zealand with my
children.
Now, you were asked somequestions about your daughter's
ballet lesson.
Yes, dr Rogers asked you thesequestions.
Quote you didn't need to gohome and pack your daughter's
ballet bag correct?

(03:26):
And you answered incorrect.
And then she said your daughterdid not even have ballet on
Mondays, did she?
And your answer was quote shedid.
She had a rehearsal thatafternoon and Simon had to
cancel it, quote.
Where do you say the rehearsalwas?
Quote.
I don't remember where it was,but it was a rehearsal for an

(03:48):
upcoming mid-year concert.
So there were some specialextra lessons they had and they
had one on that Monday afternoonevening and I had asked Simon
to ring Lisa Pellan's studio andcancel it, which he told me he
did do.
Weren Weren't her rehearsalsheld on weekends?
Some do.
Weren't her rehearsals held onweekends?

(04:11):
Some were, but some were on theMonday night afternoon.
I can't remember what time itwas.
Mr Mandy, you remember you gavethat evidence in those questions
, erin, I do.
Mr Mandy, can I ask you if yourecall Simon Patterson's
evidence?
Does she remember Simon givingcertain evidence?

(04:33):
Mr Mandy, let me try again andhas been done through most of
the cross examination.
I am doing the same thing toremind her of the evidence and
then ask her what the positionin relation to the daughter's
ballet lessons on that day.
His honour right, mr Mandy.
Exhibit D, page 26 to 31.

(04:55):
Have you got that there, erin?
I do.
Can you see a message fromSimon on the right-hand side of
the page, second block downQuote.
I left a message on LisaPulling's studio phone, erin,
yes, mr Mandy, and thencorrected to Pellan Yep.
Erin replies.

(05:16):
What did you understand, simon,to be meaning by those messages
?
Erin, so Lisa Pellon Studioswas the name of the ballet
studio, right?
I understood he was cancellingher attendance that night, as
I'd asked him to do, do?

(05:42):
You were asked some questionsabout your potassium levels.
You were asked some levelsabout Tanya Patterson's evidence
about overhearing aconversation between you and a
toxicologist and yourself inhospital.
Erin, yes, mr Mandy, inrelation to potassium levels.
Erin, yes, mr Mandy.
You recall that evidence, erin,I do, Mr Mandy.
You recall that evidence, erin,I do, mr Mandy.
The evidence was to the effectthat you asked the toxicologist

(06:04):
as to how your potassium levelswere.
Erin, yes, why did you do that?
This is Erin.
Because I'd been told they werevery low Overnight.
I'd been feeling a bit unwellaround 10 or 11, and I expressed
that to a nurse 10 or 11 pm, oram, I beg your pardon, 11 to 10

(06:26):
or 11 pm on the 31st, mr Mandy,and, to your understanding, how
were your potassium levels at11pm on the 31st?
Ah, it was 2.6.
And how were your potassiumlevels this is, mr Mandy, in the
morning when you werediscussing these things with the

(06:46):
toxicologist, erin?
I understand they were normalby then.
And what treatment had you hadin the meantime, erin?
I had two doses of potassiumsupplement in the early hours of
the morning, erin.
No, sorry, mr Mandy, you wereasked several times about the

(07:07):
Cooler Master iNaturalistsearches.
Yes, and your response to thosequestions were to this effect
it is possible that it was me.
Yep.
I don't know if it was childone.
Yep, I don't know if it waschild two, yep.
Why did you answer thequestions in that way?
So I was answering that way,because I don't have a memory of

(07:28):
doing that.
So I don't feel like I couldsay yes, it was me, definitely,
if I don't have that memory.
And what is the state of yourunderstanding about whether or
not it was you, erin, wellqualified by?
I still don't have a memory ofit, but I do accept it was most
likely me.
Yes, okay.

(07:49):
So that's what we've got forErin's case today.
Next week we'll be getting thefinal closing addresses from the
defence and the prosecution.
So we're still a long way to go, but thank you for your time
today.
Thank you for listening.
Let me know what other contentyou want as well, more than
happy to chat to you about that,because I really appreciate you

(08:13):
carving out this space for thisstory.
But thank you, and make sureyou sign up for the newsletter
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(08:33):
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Anyway, have a wonderfulweekend.
I will more than likely talk toyou Monday morning.

(08:57):
Thank you, bye.