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Patterson's defense attorney Richard Edney made the first ground for their appeal on Wednesday an error that resulted in jury members being sequestered in the same hotel as a police witness and members of the prosecution team. "This was a very serious breach of sequestration," Edney told the court, calling it "catastrophic." Kissane said there was no evidence to support that argument, telling the court "there was no actual contact between any juror and any other person." Another member of the defense legal team, Veronika Drago, said there was no evidence that Patterson had read online posts that reported death cap mushrooms had been seen near the towns of Loch and Outtrim. Death caps — or amanita phalloides — are the deadliest mushrooms in the world, causing some 90% of fungus-related fatalities, according to the AFP news agency. Drago argued a miscarriage of justice occurred when the prosecution opened its case saying there was no evidence of a motive for the poisonings, then closed the case suggesting Patterson had animosity toward her husband's parents and the broader Patterson family, as a motive.
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