What will happen next for mushroom cook Erin Patterson

After several hours of questioning, police decided they had enough evidence to lay three murder charges and five attempted murder charges against Erin Patterson. So what happens next in the legal process?

Mushroom poisoning suspect Erin Patterson has been charged.

This is how the legal process might pan out from here.

What happens now she’s charged?

Following several hours of questioning, police decided they had enough evidence to lay three murder charges and five attempted murder charges against Ms Patterson.

She was last night transported to the Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court and will face a filing hearing on Friday morning.

Filing hearings are administrative hearings to bring the charges before the court.

It is at these hearings where magistrates set down future dates for hearings and material to be served and hear any issues a person might face while in custody.

Erin Patterson has been arrested. Picture: Brooke Grebert-Craig

Will she get bail?

Bail applications can be made during a person’s filing hearing or any time after that upon application to court.

Charges like murder are so serious that accused persons are unlikely to get bail.

The Magistrates’ Court – where an accused person has their first appearance in court – doesn’t have the jurisdiction to grant bail on a murder charge.

Ms Patterson will have to apply to a Supreme Court judge for bail.

How long before any potential trial?

The wheels of the criminal justice system move slowly.

Murder charges are typically first tested in the Magistrates’ Court before advancing to the Supreme Court to be tried.

Amid backlogs caused by the pandemic, cases have been allowed to be fast-tracked to higher courts. Even so, the process could take a year or more.

If Ms Patterson is found guilty, she faces life in prison.