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Speaker 1: Aaron Patterson is guilty and is awaiting a sentence for

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Speaker 1: her crimes. Meanwhile, another legal standoff is on the horizon.

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Speaker 1: I'm Brook Greevert Craig and this is the Mushroom Book.

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Speaker 1: Hi Laura, nice of you to join me after three

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Speaker 1: weeks off the mics.

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Speaker 2: Yes, it was lovely to have a break, but I'm

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Speaker 2: excited to be back here to talk about a development.

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Speaker 1: Yes, so Aaron Patterson's lean Gatha home has been restrained

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Speaker 1: by authorities.

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Speaker 2: Yes, so this is very legally complicated, but I really

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Speaker 2: try to break it down so our listeners understand. So,

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Speaker 2: of course we all know that about a month ago

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Speaker 2: Aaron was found guilty of three counts of murder and

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Speaker 2: one count of attempted murder. She hasn't been sentenced yet.

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Speaker 2: That will happen in the coming months, but there are

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Speaker 2: some other legal processes that can start happening in the background.

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Speaker 2: And one of the things the prosecution is looking at

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Speaker 2: is how the victims and their families can be compensated.

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Speaker 2: So when we talk about the victim in this case,

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Speaker 2: ian As, the only guest to survive the lunch, was

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Speaker 2: the only victim who was physically harmed by Aaron's heinous actions.

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Speaker 2: But when we think about this case more broadly, there

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Speaker 2: were people around Don and Gale and Heather and Ian

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Speaker 2: who were also very hurt by what she did. Don

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Speaker 2: and Gale had four children, and so did Heather and Ian,

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Speaker 2: and all of those children, which include Aaron's estranged husband,

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Speaker 2: Simon Patterson, would have felt immense pain and grief in

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Speaker 2: the wake of their deaths, and they also stand to

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Speaker 2: be compensated for what has happened. So we know that

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Speaker 2: Aaron owns this house in Lee and Gutha. It was

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Speaker 2: obviously the center of this lunch and she has owned

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Speaker 2: it for a few years. But now, like you say,

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Speaker 2: it's been restrained by the court, which means she's not

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Speaker 2: allowed to sell it. She's actually not allowed to do

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Speaker 2: anything with it.

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Speaker 1: And when you say restrained by the court, what does

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Speaker 1: that look like in particular.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a great question. So about two weeks ago

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Speaker 2: the prosecution applied for that restraining order and that requires

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Speaker 2: them to go to court, but it's not necessarily the

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Speaker 2: same court the trial happened in this matter was going

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Speaker 2: to be heard before a completely different judge, and they

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Speaker 2: told her they wanted to restrain her home, so it

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Speaker 2: could eventually be sold off and that money be given

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Speaker 2: to the victims, but.

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Speaker 1: That potential compensation may be opposed by Eron's defense lawyers.

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Speaker 2: Is that right, Laura, Yes, And that's primarily because Erin

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Speaker 2: maintains her innocence, So no paperwork yet has been lodged

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Speaker 2: for an appeal, but we are expecting Erin to appeal

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Speaker 2: both her conviction and the eventual sentence that she will

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Speaker 2: be handed, So it makes sense that a defense team

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Speaker 2: will oppose these compensation orders because they don't want any

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Speaker 2: of this money to go to the victims until Erin

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Speaker 2: has had a chance to fight this appeal.

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Speaker 1: And her lawyers took out a mortgage over the property.

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Speaker 2: They did, and this is where things start to get

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Speaker 2: a little bit murky. So the house has been restrained,

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Speaker 2: which means pretty much right now nothing can happen with it.

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Speaker 2: Erin will be sentenced in the coming months and then

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Speaker 2: those applications for compensation may be lodged. But we actually

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Speaker 2: don't know yet if any applications will be lodged. We

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Speaker 2: don't know if Ian or his children are seeking money,

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Speaker 2: and we also don't know if Simon and his siblings

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Speaker 2: are seeking money. But if those applications are made and

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Speaker 2: they are granted by the court, what would usually happen

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Speaker 2: is the house would be forfeited. It would then be

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Speaker 2: sold and the proceeds from that sale would be distributed

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Speaker 2: amongst all of the victims. But that mortgage you mentioned

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Speaker 2: does kind of get in the way of that process.

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Speaker 2: The mortgage was taken out by the law firm that

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Speaker 2: defended erin a trial. We didn't talk about the firm

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Speaker 2: too much, but the firm is called Duke and George

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Speaker 2: and they were the ones that were helping out defense

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Speaker 2: barristers Colin Mandy and Sophie Stafford. Because it's not just

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Speaker 2: the barristers who represent and accused. There's a whole team

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Speaker 2: of lawyers that are working on the case in the background.

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Speaker 1: So essentially, her lawyers have taken out a mortgage so

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Speaker 1: they can get paid.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like an insurance policy. They're not done representing

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Speaker 2: erin yet, but at the very end, when it's time

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Speaker 2: for them to get paid, they would have taken out

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Speaker 2: this mortgage to make sure that that can occur. But

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Speaker 2: it remains to be seen how this will play out

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Speaker 2: in court. It's unclear who will actually get the first

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Speaker 2: bite of the cherry when it comes to the proceeds

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Speaker 2: of this sale. So will it be Ian and the

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Speaker 2: other victims' families or will it be the law firm

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Speaker 2: that represented Erin.

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Speaker 1: And does this happen in other cases? Yeah?

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Speaker 2: It does. This is pretty standard. We had another high

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Speaker 2: profile case in Victoria recently, the trial of Jetstar pilot

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Speaker 2: Greg Lynn, who was found guilty of one count of murder.

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Speaker 2: Before his trial took place, his home in Caroline Springs

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Speaker 2: was also restrained by authorities. But it does seem that

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Speaker 2: the timing of these restraining orders can differ. In Greg

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Speaker 2: Lynn's case, his house was restrained before the trial started,

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Speaker 2: But here we saw it occur her after the convictions

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Speaker 2: had come down.

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Speaker 1: And why do you think that happened.

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Speaker 2: It's hard to know, and I feel like I would

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Speaker 2: only be speculating. But because of the timing of the

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Speaker 2: restraining order, it did mean that Dougan George were able

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Speaker 2: to get that mortgage on the home. If Aaron's house

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Speaker 2: was restrained months ago when she was initially charged with murder,

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Speaker 2: then she wouldn't have been allowed to put any sort

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Speaker 2: of mortgages over her property. Because, like I said at

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Speaker 2: the top of the episode. Restraining orders prevent you from

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Speaker 2: dealing with your property at all. So the timing has

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Speaker 2: actually meant that the law firm have had a chance

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Speaker 2: to get in early. But it remains to be seen

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Speaker 2: how that mortgage will play out when it comes time

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Speaker 2: to potentially hand down that compensation.

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Speaker 1: And I know this would just be speculation, but do

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Speaker 1: we think that Aaron would not be happy that this

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Speaker 1: restraining over her house has occurred.

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Speaker 2: I can imagine she wouldn't be pleased, but it probably

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Speaker 2: was something that her law firm had worded her up about.

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Speaker 2: They probably told her a long time ago that this

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Speaker 2: was something she should expect since it does happen in

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Speaker 2: other cases, and it was maybe just a matter of

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Speaker 2: time that it happened in hers.

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Speaker 1: That's true, and during the trial we did hear that

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Speaker 1: Aaron saw this house as her final home. It was

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Speaker 1: a place where she saw her children growing up, then

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Speaker 1: going off to UNI, and then coming back, and it

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Speaker 1: was also a place that she saw herself growing old.

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Speaker 1: So we know that she really did love this home and.

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Speaker 2: We believe it was her last remaining asset. Our listeners

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Speaker 2: will remember during the trial that there was a lot

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Speaker 2: of evidence around all of the homes she had purchased

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Speaker 2: in the past and then sold off.

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Speaker 1: Yes, just to remind our listeners, she had the property

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Speaker 1: in Nasan Street in karam Bara. She also had two

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Speaker 1: properties in Lcotte Road in karam Burra, and she also

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Speaker 1: had a property in Mount Waverley which we know sold

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Speaker 1: for more than one million dollars after she was charged.

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Speaker 2: And speaking of prices, the Lee and Gatha Holme is

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Speaker 2: also estimated to be worth more than one million dollars.

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Speaker 1: So that's the major development for today. At the top

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Speaker 1: of the episode, Laura, you did mention about Aaron appealing.

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Speaker 1: Can you explain what is brewing in the background.

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Speaker 2: I wish I actually had more to say on this,

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Speaker 2: but we don't know too much at this stage because

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Speaker 2: Aaron's defense team can't actually file and appeal until she's

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Speaker 2: been sentenced. But whenever that does happen, they'll have twenty

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Speaker 2: eight days to get their paperwork in to the court

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Speaker 2: and say we want to appeal on these grounds and

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Speaker 2: that process can then get underway.

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Speaker 1: And speaking about sentencing, when will she be sentenced?

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Speaker 2: I don't feel like I'm being very helpful here because

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Speaker 2: we don't know that either we expect her to be

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Speaker 2: sentenced in the coming months, but we don't have the

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Speaker 2: date for that yet because first she has to face

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Speaker 2: something called a pre sentence hearing. So I feel like

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Speaker 2: we're working backwards here a little bit. But the appeal

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Speaker 2: is what happens at the very end before that will

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Speaker 2: be the sentence. But the next step in the road is,

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Speaker 2: like I said, the pre sentence hearing, and this will

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Speaker 2: be an opportunity that Ian and the others will have

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Speaker 2: to provide victim impact statements to the court. And these

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Speaker 2: can be very powerful statements that can either be read

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Speaker 2: in court by the people themselves or can be read

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Speaker 2: by the prosecutors. But it's their opportunity to explain to

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Speaker 2: Justice Christopher Beale how these murders have affected their lives.

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Speaker 2: They can be some of the most emotional days we

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Speaker 2: experience as court reporters because you're sitting there in this

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Speaker 2: court room only meets away from these victims as they

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Speaker 2: painfully make their way through these statements. And that's the

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Speaker 2: reason why some people don't choose to read them themselves

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Speaker 2: in court. It can be much easier to allow the

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Speaker 2: prosecutor to do that. But either way, you're still hearing

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Speaker 2: in their own words that raw emotion and the impact

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Speaker 2: that these crimes have had on them. So the victim

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Speaker 2: impact statements will be the center of the prosecution's submissions

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Speaker 2: as they argue Erin should be sentenced to life behind bars.

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Speaker 2: But when it comes to the defense they are likely

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Speaker 2: to tender psychiatric reports and other material that they will

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Speaker 2: argue are the reasons that Erin should be served a

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Speaker 2: minimum sentence. Essentially, they're saying that at some point in

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Speaker 2: the future she should be released from jail to live

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Speaker 2: out the rest of her.

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Speaker 1: Days, and that will be happening in Melbourne and not

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Speaker 1: more Well. Is that right.

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Speaker 2: That's my understanding. It hasn't been confirmed yet by the court,

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Speaker 2: but Erin's right to have her trial heard in more

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Speaker 2: Well pretty much ended when those verdicts came down. The

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Speaker 2: jury has been discharged, so we don't need them anymore. So,

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Speaker 2: as I said, I believe that will be taking place

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Speaker 2: at Melbourne in the Supreme.

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Speaker 1: Court, and we don't know when that particular hearing is happening.

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Speaker 2: We don't know yet, but we should find out soon.

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Speaker 2: The parties will be in court next week and will

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Speaker 2: be able to tune in and they should be discussing

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Speaker 2: when that hearing can take place.

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Speaker 1: So you and I will be back on the mics

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Speaker 1: then hopefully see you then