Triple assassin Erin Patterson would have been unfairly prejudiced if a jury heard allegations she tried to kill her estranged husband within the years earlier than the deadly poison mushroom lunch.
Victorian supreme court docket justice Christopher Beale made the choice on 14 March, ruling Patterson must face a separate trial for the three alleged tried homicide fees.
Prosecutors in the end dropped the costs in relation to Simon Patterson simply earlier than the triple-murder trial began in Morwell.
Patterson was on 7 July discovered responsible of killing Simon’s dad and mom, Don and Gail, 70, and his aunt Heather Wilkinson, 66, together with the tried homicide of Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson.
Erin Patterson denies the allegations referring to her former associate, Simon Patterson.
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Justice Beale’s redacted pre-trial rulings have been launched to media on Monday night after Patterson misplaced her bid to maintain the proof a secret to protect her enchantment rights.
The main points across the alleged tried murders of Simon Patterson have been revealed for the primary time on Friday.
Prosecutors had alleged Patterson tried to poison Simon a number of instances between 2021 and 2022.
The primary was a penne pasta Patterson cooked him earlier than leaving for a tenting journey in November 2021, which led to a five-day hospital keep for Simon.
He additionally ended up in a coma after a tenting journey in late Might 2022 the place he allegedly ate a rooster korma curry Patterson had made him.
Simon needed to bear surgical procedure to take away a big portion of his bowel after consuming the curry, he informed the supreme court docket throughout pre-trial hearings.
It was additionally alleged he fell ailing in September 2022 after consuming a wrap Patterson ready for him whereas tenting collectively at Wilsons Promontory.
The prosecution claimed the allegations might be used as coincidence proof to point out the similarities between what allegedly occurred to Simon and the mushroom lunch victims.
However Beale dominated the costs ought to be heard in a separate trial to forestall jurors from “misusing or overvaluing” the proof in relation to Simon.
He decided if a jury discovered Patterson had intentionally poisoned her 4 lunch visitors in July 2023, there was a danger they might wrongly assess the costs referring to Simon.
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“I am not persuaded that its probative value substantially outweighs the significant danger or risk of unfair prejudice to the accused,” Beale stated in his written causes.
The decide additionally made pre-trial rulings in relation to paperwork on poisoning discovered on units police seized from Patterson’s dwelling.
Beale dominated the paperwork failed the relevance check as a result of the proof may solely go as excessive as Patterson presumably accessed the file.
The decide additionally stopped the jury from seeing a Fb publish Patterson made to a poisons web page, the place she claimed her cat had chewed on a mushroom and was vomiting.
Justice Beale famous the publish was made 18 months earlier than the primary allegation in relation to Simon.
“In my view, even if the evidence of this post shows an interest in poisons, it is temporally remote,” the decide stated in his causes.
Patterson will face a two-day pre-sentence listening to later in August, throughout which she is going to hearken to statements from the Pattersons and Wilkinsons.
She could have 28 days to enchantment after she is sentenced.
