AP Top News – L-TWC Regions – Attorney Legal Counsel

An Australian lunch host is charged with 3 murders using poisonous mushrooms

attorneylegalcounsel99 — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 11:34:16 +0000

MORWELL, Australia (AP) — A woman accused of serving her ex-husband’s parents and an aunt poisonous mushrooms with lunch appeared in an Australian court Friday, charged with three counts of murder and five of attempted murder.

Erin Patterson, 49, did not enter pleas or apply to be released on bail when she appeared briefly in a local court in Morwell in Victoria state.

Police had arrested her Thursday at her home in Leongatha, where her former husband Simon Patterson, 48; his parents, Gail and Don Patterson, both 70; Gail Patterson’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66; and Wilkinson’s husband, Ian Wilkison, 68, had been invited to lunch on July 29.

The murder charges relate to Erin Patterson’s parents-in-law and aunt-in-law, who had been hospitalized the next day and died within days.

She was charged with the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, a Baptist pastor who became critically ill and spent seven weeks in the hospital.

The remaining attempted murder charges relate to her former husband over various events, including the fatal lunch that he was invited to but did not attend. Police allege Simon Patterson became ill after eating three meals in 2021 and 2022, but didn’t specify Erin Patterson’s alleged involvement.

The potential maximum sentence in Victoria for murder is life imprisonment, and for attempted murder, 25 years in prison.

The defendant’s two children were at home during the lunch in July but did not share the allegedly poisonous beef Wellington dish.

Police searched Erin Patterson’s house Thursday with what they described as “technology detection dogs.” Predominantly Labradors, the dogs are trained to sniff out electronic storage devices that can be hidden in wall cavities and containers of food.

Prosecutor Greg Ellis requested the case be adjourned for 20 weeks to allow police time to analyze computer equipment seized from the home.

Magistrate Tim Walsh ordered Erin Patterson to remain in custody and appear in court next on May 3.

Walsh told her it was important that her case “progresses through the system as fast as possible.”

She replied “OK” and nodded her head.

Police say the symptoms of the four family members who attended the lunch were consistent with poisoning from wild Amanita phalloides, known as death cap mushrooms.

Patterson has publicly denied any wrongdoing.

“I’m devastated. I loved them. I can’t believe that this has happened and I’m so sorry,” she tearfully told reporters two days after the third death.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported that Patterson wrote in a statement that she cooked the meal using mushrooms bought from a major supermarket chain and dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery store. She wrote that she also ate the meal and later had stomach pains and diarrhea.

Source link

Attorneys and law firms can elevate their online presence with professionally written content from SEO Content Writing Services monthly plan. Our team of experienced writers specializes in crafting blog posts, articles, and written content that accurately reflect the expertise and knowledge of our clients in the legal field. With a keen eye for detail and a thorough understanding of legal terminology, we provide high-quality writing that helps our clients stand out from their competition and engage with their target audience. Trust SEO Content Writing Services for one time article writing or monthly written content to handle all of your written content needs and showcase your law firm's expertise.
If you need written content, blog posts, or articles professionally written for your website, we can help. Go HERE to find out more.
or email us here: myseowritingservices@gmail.com
To find out more about our article writing or blog post services, fill out the form, thank you.

The post An Australian lunch host is charged with 3 murders using poisonous mushrooms appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

Hunter Biden indicted on federal firearms charges in long-running probe weeks after plea deal failed

attorneylegalcounsel99 — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 17:59:42 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden was indicted Thursday on federal firearms charges, the latest and weightiest step yet in a long-running investigation into the president’s son.

Biden is accused of lying about his drug use when he bought a firearm in October 2018, a period when he has acknowledged struggling with addiction to crack cocaine, according to the indictment filed in federal court in Delaware.

President Joe Biden’s son has also been under investigation for his business dealings. The special counsel overseeing the case has indicated that charges of failure to pay taxes on time could be filed in Washington or in California, where he lives.

The indictment comes as congressional Republicans pursue an impeachment inquiry into the Democratic president, in large part over Hunter Biden’s business dealings. Republicans have obtained testimony about how Hunter Biden used the “Biden brand” to drum up work overseas, but they have not produced hard evidence of wrongdoing by the president.

A gun possession charge against Hunter Biden, 53, had previously been part of a plea deal that also included guilty pleas to misdemeanor tax charges, but the agreement imploded during a court hearing in July when a judge raised questions about its unusual provisions.

Defense attorneys have argued that a part of the deal sparing Hunter Biden prosecution on the gun count if he stays out of trouble remains in place. It includes immunity provisions against other potential charges. Attorneys indicated they would fight additional charges filed against him.

Prosecutors, though, maintain the agreement never took effect and is now invalid.

Republicans had denounced the plea agreement as a “sweetheart deal.” It would have allowed Hunter Biden to serve probation rather than jail time after pleading guilty to failing to pay taxes in both 2017 and 2018.

His personal income during those two years totaled roughly $4 million, including business and consulting fees from a company he formed with the CEO of a Chinese business conglomerate and the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, prosecutors have said.

Congressional Republicans have continued their own investigations into the Justice Department’s handling of the case as well as nearly every aspect of Hunter Biden’s business dealings, seeking to connect his financial affairs directly to his father. They have failed to produce evidence that the president directly participated in his son’s work, though he sometimes had dinner with his son’s clients or said hello to them on calls.

The post Hunter Biden indicted on federal firearms charges in long-running probe weeks after plea deal failed appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

Indiana justices won’t hear 2nd abortion case for now

attorneylegalcounsel99 — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 15:58:43 +0000

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s high court said it will not immediately consider a challenge to the state’s abortion ban that is based on the argument that the law violates some people’s religious freedoms, leaving that decision to an appeals court, at least for now.

The state Supreme Court issued an order Monday saying the state Court of Appeals will first consider the case, after a lower court judge in December sided with residents who claim the state’s abortion ban infringes on their religious beliefs. The state attorney general’s office appealed that decision, asking the high court to take up the case.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed the lawsuit in September on behalf of those residents — who hold Muslim, Jewish and other faiths — after Republican state lawmakers enacted the ban last summer.

The ACLU and the state attorney general’s office did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Indiana’s ban, which was signed into law by Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, goes against those residents’ religious values regarding when they believe the treatment is acceptable, the lawsuit argues.

Earlier in January, the state Supreme Court heard arguments in a lawsuit filed by abortion clinic operators. The court has maintained a block on the abortion ban while it considers the case, after a county judge in September initially found the law likely violated privacy protections under the state constitution.

While Indiana’s ban is blocked, abortion will remain legal in the state up to 20 weeks post-fertilization.

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, religious freedoms lawsuits against states’ abortion bans have sprouted across the country, where abortion-rights supporters are aiming to protect access to abortion and defend their beliefs.

___

Arleigh Rodgers is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/arleighrodgers

The post Indiana justices won’t hear 2nd abortion case for now appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.