Erin Patterson argues mushroom murder convictions should be quashed due to ‘catastrophic’ failure of justice

Allowing jurors to stay in same hotel as police and prosecution denied Patterson a fair trial, lawyers tell Victorian court of appeal

Lawyers for Erin Patterson argue that allowing jurors to stay in the same hotel as police and the prosecution while they deliberated over their verdicts in the triple murder trial represented a “catastrophic” failure of the justice system.

On Wednesday, three judges of Victoria’s highest court started hearing two appeals – by Patterson herself and the state’s director of public prosecutions (DPP) – into the conviction and sentence in the case.