“They prayed as a group for the accused’s health and wisdom in relation to telling the children.” Colin Mandy, Patterson’s defense attorney, informed the jury that his client had never had cancer.
He said that the mushrooms Patterson had given to her lunch guests had poisoned them, but he maintained that the poisoning was unintentional, calling it “a tragedy,
A terrible accident.” It was previously disclosed to the jurors that Patterson had served her visitors from a different colored plate.
