'The verdicts are unreasonable and cannot be supported, having regard to the evidence, because on the whole of the evidence, including unchallenged exculpatory evidence from more than 20 crown witnesses, it was not open to the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt on the word of the complainant alone,' his first appeal ground says. 'There was a fundamental irregularity in the trial process, because the accused was not arraigned in the presence of the jury panel as required,' the appeal, filed by Pell's barrister Robert Richter QC, reads. Pell's lawyers will also look to prove there were issues with the way the jury of eight men and four women were selected, according to The Age.ĭetails of the appeal show Pell's legal team will argue the jury, made of eight men and four women, should have heard him enter his 'not guilty' plea, and should not have been allowed to be convinced beyond reasonable doubt Pell was guilty based on the choirboy's word alone. The defence also claimed the two young choirboys, only one of whom is still alive, could not have 'nicked off' from the procession without being noticed by others. His legal team argued the sacristy, where Pell, now 77, exposed himself to the pair before pulling one boy's head towards his penis, was busy at the time and therefore could not have been the scene of a sexual assault. Pell's defence had claimed the then-Archbishop of Melbourne had never been left alone, and had been speaking with parishioners on the front steps of the church when the assault was said to have taken place. The video was created by professional producers, and showed Pell, choir members, the organist and others involved in the Sunday Mass as separate coloured dots moving around the cathedral.ĭefence lawyers had argued Pell was out the front meeting parishioners and the sacristy (pictured) was busy when the assault was said to have taken place, and wanted to show the jury a 19-minute video they said would collate their witness statements and show how it wasn't possible Pell's defence will further argue the disgraced Cardinal was not arraigned properly in front of the jury, meaning he was not able to enter his 'not guilty' plea in front of those who would go on to judge him. However, County Court chief judge Peter Kidd refused to allow the video to be shown after prosecutors successfully argued the jury would assume it was a factual portrayal of events, rather than just one version of what may have happened. His lawyer, Robert Richter QC, wanted to use the video in his closing argument to give the jury a visual interpretation of the defence's version of events, The Age reported. Pell is Australia's top Catholic, and the most senior church official to be charged with historical child sex crimes. The video shows the layout of St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne and where people were when Pell is said to have sexually assaulted two 13-year-old choirboys in December 1996. A 19-minute video prosecutors likened to 'Pac-Man in a cathedral' will play a crucial part of disgraced Cardinal George Pell's appeal against his child sex conviction.
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