AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail
By Josh Hanrahan For Daily Mail Australia
The top lawyer who will defend Cardinal George Pell against his multiple charges of historic sexual offences has successfully defended hitmen and underworld figures.
Robert Richter, QC, will be the face of the defence for Australia’s top ranking catholic when his looming court date arrives after returning to Victoria from the Vatican City.
Having made a name for himself defending Mick Gatto over the shooting of Andrew ‘Benji’ Veniamin at the height of the underworld war, it’s believed Mr Richter is in line to be paid $11,000 a day for defending Cardinal Pell, Nine News reports.
In 2004 the 71-year-old successfully convinced a jury Gatto’s shooting of Veniamin was in self-defence, leading to the notorious ‘Big Mick’ being acquitted of murder.
After the trial, a thrilled Gatto went and got ‘Robert Richter’ tattooed on his chest.
Known as ‘The Red Baron’, Mr Richter’s work has be described as ‘sheer brilliance’ by his peers.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.