Update: George Pell has now had his conviction quashed by the High Court of Australia.
Catholic cardinal George Pell had his appeal quashed in court this morning, meaning he will continue to serve his six-year prison sentence behind bars.
The Victorian Court of Appeal this morning dismissed the 78-year-old’s appeal by a margin of two to one.
In March, a court ruled that Pell was guilty of sexually abusing two choirboys at Melbourne’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral between 1996 and 1997.
Earlier, ABC reported that Pell’s appeal rested on three key arguments submitted by his lawyer Bret Walker SC.
The first was that the jury had reasonable doubt about Pell’s guilt despite their verdict.
Chief Justice Anne Ferguson today said she and Court of Appeal President Chris Maxwell found it was indeed possible for the offences to occur, that the complainant was a believable witness, and that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Justice Mark Weinberg upheld the appeal on that ground, but the dismissal stood on a majority basis.
Chief Judge Peter Kidd had also barred Pell’s defense counsel from showing the trial jury an animation showing the alleged locations of key witnesses, saying the material could not be introduced in the trial’s closing addresses.
Chief Justice Ferguson said the Court of Appeal agreed with Justice Kidd, saying the animation presented “a distorted picture” of the evidence.
Another argument alleged Pell was not arraigned in the physical presence of a jury panel before his trial. Chief Justice Ferguson said the Court of Appeal found his appearance via video link did qualify as presence before the jury pool, nullifying that element of the appeal.
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