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The Forum > Article Comments > The vendetta against Cardinal Pell > Comments

The vendetta against Cardinal Pell : Comments

By John Young, published 5/3/2019

I believe he is innocent and that the jury should certainly have brought in a verdict of not guilty.

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HenryL.,

Perhaps the honesty and integrity of Mrs Chrissie Foster
may appeal to you more:

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/chrissie-foster-on-the-conversation-of-george-pell/10851846
Posted by Foxy, Wednesday, 6 March 2019 2:48:28 PM
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Foxy,
I have watched the link of Mrs Foster and her full statement to the commission and, of course, I feel empathy for her and family. I also feel for the other victims of sexual and physical abuse.

I would like the perpetrators brought to justice but I do not think that compromising the standard of evidence required in our courts is fair and reasonable. According to the 'Guardian' this has already taken place so we must prevent further erosion of the standard of evidence. Simply requiring the judge to advise the jury to be careful is not good enough. It is the thin edge of the wedge.

When there is a word-on-word situation and no other evidence the defendant must be acquitted, unless he or she pleads guilty.
Posted by HenryL, Wednesday, 6 March 2019 8:09:11 PM
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HenryL
That might be OK if the defendant is prepared to take the stand, but when he is hiding behind a barrister, and the witness for the prosecution comes across as a very credible person, the guilty verdict seems very reasonable to me and in this case also, the jury.
David
Posted by VK3AUU, Wednesday, 6 March 2019 8:46:57 PM
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Dear VK3AUU,

Indeed.

And what HenryL is studiously avoiding is answering whether other clergy who have been convicted on the testimony of victims many years after the fact should now be released and left to roam our streets preying on our young.

Aitchison still asserts his innocence even though he is serving 9 years for repeatedly raping a then young girl.

There was no forensic evidence offered, no DNA, no collaborating eye witnesses just her testimony.

She was found to be believable before a jury, he was not. He is now serving time.

HenryL would now have that man released and consider his incarceration a grave injustice.

Bunkum.
Posted by SteeleRedux, Wednesday, 6 March 2019 9:18:17 PM
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.

Basis of Cardinal Pell’s appeal :

.

"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," the appeal document states.

The other grounds allege there was a "fundamental irregularity" in the trial process that prevented Cardinal Pell from entering a not guilty plea in front of the jury, and that the judge erred in not allowing the defence to show the jury a "moving visual representation" that supported the Cardinal’s claim of innocence.

Sydney-based barrister Bret Walker SC will lead Cardinal Pell’s high-powered legal team for the appeal trial, taking over from defence barrister Robert Richter QC once Pell has been sentenced on March 13. Both Pell's application to the court for leave to appeal and the appeal itself, if permission is granted, will be heard on June 5 and 6.

Cardinal Pell’s appeal lawyer, Bret Walker, represented MPs including previous deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce in High Court hearings over dual citizenship in 2017, and reportedly commanded up to $15,000 a day when he represented former prime minister Kevin Rudd at a royal commission into the failed pink batt scheme in 2014.
.

If, as seems likely, Cardinal Pell is granted leave to appeal the jury’s decision of 11 December and the appeal is successful, it is not difficult to imagine the outburst of indignation this will cause.

As I indicated in my post on page 6 of this thread, the problem is that the sacrosanct principle of the “presumption of innocence” should not apply for sex crimes. The nature of such crimes is such that, invariably, there are no witnesses and no material evidence. It is impossible to obtain a conviction under such circumstances.

There should be NO PRESUMPTION OF EITHER INNOCENCE OR GUILT. Each case should be judged solely on its merits. THE LAW MUST BE CHANGED – and the sooner the better !

.
Posted by Banjo Paterson, Thursday, 7 March 2019 1:27:57 AM
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Banjo,
There is material evidence. It is the fact that because of the acts of Pell, a man has taken his life and the life of the witness himself has been affected. I agree with you that in the cases of sexual abuse the law needs to be changed, but it is a very difficult area, but, particularly in the area of clerical abuse where some memebers of secular juries may be more inclined to accept the word of a man of the cloth as apparently happened in the first trial.

David
Posted by VK3AUU, Thursday, 7 March 2019 9:00:55 AM
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