Mushroom Triple Murder: Australia's Erin Patterson to Learn Appeal Fate Today — Retrial or a Longer Sentence

The fate of Erin Patterson, convicted in Australia's high-profile mushroom triple-murder case, is being decided today. Victoria's highest court, the Court of Appeal, is due to hand down its decision on two appeals in the case at 10am.

Patterson, 52, could face a retrial, or she could receive a longer jail term. She is not expected to attend the appeal decision in person.

Last year Patterson was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 33 years, for the murders of her estranged husband's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt Heather Wilkinson, after she hosted them for lunch.

She was also convicted of the attempted murder of Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, who survived the beef wellington laced with death cap mushrooms after spending weeks in hospital.

Patterson's lawyers argued seven grounds for her appeal. Among them was that allowing jurors to stay in the same hotel as police and the prosecution while they deliberated over their verdicts in the triple murder trial represented a 'catastrophic' failure of the justice system.

In August, the court also heard the opposing argument: that Patterson should have been given no possibility of ever being released from prison, or a non-parole period so lengthy that she was likely to die behind bars. One appeal therefore seeks a retrial, while the other seeks a harsher sentence.

Justices Lesley Taylor, Stephen McLeish and Peter Kidd heard arguments from her legal team and prosecutors in August, and they will now deliver the ruling.

The ruling itself could be very quick and over in a matter of minutes.