Cardinal to argue his conviction should be overturned or he should receive retrial

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

George Pell is arguing his child sexual abuse convictions should be overturned or he should receive a retrial, because of a “fundamental irregularity” that prevented him from entering a not-guilty plea in front of his jury.

The Victorian court of appeal has released Pell’s grounds for appeal against his December conviction for sexually abusing two 13-year-old choirboys at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in December 1996 and early 1997, when he was the archbishop.

Inside the Pell trial: we sat in court for months, forbidden from reporting a word Read more

“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.

It is one of three grounds for his appeal that were filed on 21 February.

Pell also takes aim at the reliance of the jury on only one victim’s evidence.

“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.

If the court of appeal accepts that, it could dismiss the case.

Quick guide Who is George Pell and what has he been convicted of? Show Hide Who is Cardinal George Pell? Pell was essentially the treasurer of the Vatican and the Holy See in Rome. He has also been a longtime confidant to Pope Francis. Before his appointment to the Vatican in 2014, Pell held senior positions within the Catholic church in Australia, including as the archbishop of Sydney and the archbishop of Melbourne. He is known for his staunch conservativism on issues including marriage equality and abortion. Pell is now also the highest-ranking Catholic official in the world to have been convicted of child sexual abuse. What has he been convicted of? In June 2017 Pell was charged with child sexual assault offences by Australian police. Pell took leave from the Vatican and stood aside from his position to return to Australia and fight the charges, which were split into two trials. The first group related to offending in 1996 at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne when he was archbishop. The second group related to alleged offending in a swimming pool while he was a priest in the regional Victorian town of Ballarat in the 1970s. The cathedral trial was held in August and resulted in a hung jury. A mistrial was declared and the trial was held a second time, beginning in November. On 11 December the jury returned a verdict of guilty on five charges; one count of sexual penetration of a child under the age of 16 and four counts of indecent assault of a child under the age of 16. The convictions relate to Pell’s offending against two 13-year-old choirboys. Why are the details only coming out now? A suppression order was in place so that jurors in the trial of the second group of alleged offences would not be prejudiced by reporting of the first trial. But the swimming pool charges were dropped by prosecutors on 26 February after evidence they were relying on to build their case was deemed inadmissible by the judge. As a result the suppression order was lifted.

What is happening now? Pell continues to appeal his conviction. In March 2019, the full bench of the high court in Canberra reserved its decision about whether to grant him special leave to appeal his case for a final time

He also argues the county court chief judge, Peter Kidd, erred in preventing the defence from using a “moving visual representation” of its argument in Richter’s closing address, which purported to show the events were impossible.

Prosecutors objected to the visual, and the judge ruled it out on the grounds that jurors might view the video as evidence and fact, and new evidence is not allowed to be introduced during a closing address.

Pell, who is in custody, is expected to pursue the appeal after he is sentenced on 13 March.

As he adjusts to jail life, the interview exposing the allegations of his offending against the two boys has been released.

Play Video 1:45 'A deranged falsehood': video of 2016 police interview shows Pell's response – video

The footage, played to jurors who convicted Pell of five charges in December, marked the first time he heard the detailed complaints, which he passed off as a “product of fantasy”.

Cross-armed and shaking his head, he told Det Sgt Christopher Reed to “stop it” as he read a victim’s recollection of Pell exposing his penis from beneath his ceremonial robes.

“What a load of absolute and disgraceful rubbish. Completely false. Madness,” he declared.

When the physical acts he committed on the boys were described to him – as told to police in 2015 by the surviving victim a year after the death of the second victim – he again denied it.

“What a load of garbage and falsehood, and deranged falsehood,” Pell said.