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George Pell set to face two trials over historical assault allegations
By Adam Cooper
[with video] George Pell is likely to face two trials and two juries, with his sexual assault charges set to be heard separately, but a date for his first trial is yet to be set. Less than 24 hours after being committed to stand trial on half the historic sexual assault charges he faced, Cardinal Pell on Wednesday returned to court, but this time to appear before a County Court judge instead of a magistrate. The 76-year-old moved slowly both as he arrived and left, despite the buzz of media around him, surrounded by police officers during his walks to and from a waiting car. In court, he sat still and quietly during the short administrative hearing. At one point after the hearing, outside the building, he turned his head towards a reporter who asked a question, but didn't say a word. Cardinal Pell has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges involving multiple complainants. Details of the charges are yet to be revealed. During a 12-minute directions hearing on Wednesday before Judge Sue Pullen, prosecutor Mark Gibson, SC, and defence counsel Robert Richter, QC, agreed that the allegations against the cardinal should be split and heard in two trials. Allegations that Cardinal Pell sexually assaulted multiple accusers in a Ballarat swimming pool in the 1970s are set to be heard in one trial, the court heard, and allegations he sexually assaulted an accuser in St Patrick’s Cathedral in the 1990s are set to be heard in the other. ‘‘They are of a completely different nature,’’ Mr Richter said of the respective allegations, ‘‘and separated by 20 years.’’ Judge Pullen said a trial date would likely be set at the next directions hearing on May 16, when it is expected prosecutors and the cardinal’s defence team will formally apply for separate trials. Together, the two trials would run for up to 10 weeks, including pre-trial legal argument, Mr Gibson said. He told Judge Pullen prosecutors could take up to three months to prepare for the trials, but Mr Richter said he wanted the first trial to start sooner rather than later. He said his client’s age was a factor in wanting the trials to start soon, as was the age – 80 – and health of a key witness. ‘‘And everyone needs to get on with their lives,’’ Mr Richter said. Judge Pullen said she wanted prosecutors to have their indictment ready soon. ‘‘You have got to move on this,’’ she told Mr Gibson. During the administrative hearing, the judge asked Mr Richter if funding was in place to pay for Cardinal Pell’s legal costs. ‘‘No problems with funding, Your Honour,’’ he replied, but did not elaborate. At the end of the hearing, Judge Pullen extended the cardinal’s bail for him to return to court in a fortnight. ‘‘Stand please, sir,’’ she told him, and closed the hearing. The cardinal was escorted to a waiting car by police outside the court building. Cardinal Pell was on Tuesday committed to stand trial on half the charges he faced, following a month-long committal hearing before magistrate Belinda Wallington. Ms Wallington directed him to stand trial on the allegations from the 1970s and 1990s, when he was respectively working as a priest in Ballarat and Archbishop of Melbourne. The magistrate also struck out half the charges, related to allegations Cardinal Pell sexually assaulted an accuser in a Ballarat cinema and at other locations in the city in the 1970s, and in relation to another accuser who alleged sexual offending in a Ballarat swimming pool. The cardinal had also denied those allegations. The charges that were struck out were the more serious he faced. Prosecutors earlier withdrew other charges.
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