CANBERRA (AUSTRALIA)
Australian Associated Press via Canberra Times
March 11, 2020
Karen Sweeney
Disgraced Cardinal George Pell is one day closer to knowing his fate, but he still has to cross a major hurdle before release from prison even becomes an option.
After a full day of arguments, his specialist appeals barrister Bret Walker SC is yet to convince the High Court’s full bench of seven judges that Pell’s case is deserving of a final chance at appeal.
That means they could drop the case at any time, without deciding one way or another.
“We’re not here to prove anything … except to show, to demonstrate, that there was unexplored possibilities that meant it was not open to the jury to convict,” Mr Walker told the court on Wednesday.
It was a case worthy of their consideration, he said.
The hearing is scheduled to run for two days and he wrapped up his arguments with a minute to spare before the end of day one.
He spent hours breaking down the case, facing tough questions from Australia’s top legal minds, while arguing for Pell to be immediately released from prison and that his five convictions for sexually abusing two choirboys at St Patrick’s Cathedral in the 1990s be quashed.
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