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March 12, 2020 17: 42:25
After 2 days of thick legal argument, the High Court of Australia has reserved its choice on whether it will reverse Cardinal George Pell’s convictions for child sexual abuse.
Key points:
- The High Court could have delivered a judgment today but will now take some time to consider the merits of the prosecution and defence arguments
- George Pell is attracting the High Court to quash his 2018 conviction for sexually abusing 2 choirboys in the 1990 s
- His legal representatives argue that Victorian appeal judges did not holistically assess evidence that Pell did not have the chance to molest the young boys
Australia’s most senior Catholic and former consultant to the Pope is serving a six-year jail term for the abuse of two choirboys at St Patrick’s Cathedral in the 1990 s.
Pell’s legal representatives took the case to the High Court after losing their appeal in the Victorian courts.
If the High Court reverses the convictions, he will walk devoid of prison, where he has been held for nearly a year.
The second day of the appeal hearing concluded with Pell’s defence lawyer Bret Walker SC taking objective