Australia's highest court has agreed to hear an appeal from Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Catholic to be found guilty of sexually abusing children.
FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2019, file photo, Cardinal George Pell arrives at the County Court in Melbourne, Australia. Pell, the most senior Catholic to be found guilty of sexually abusing children, will learn whether Australia's highest court will hear his appeal against convictions for molesting two choirboys in a Melbourne cathedral two decades ago.
The decision by the High Court of Australia comes nearly a year after a unanimous jury found Pope Francis’ former finance minister guilty of molesting two 13-year-old choirboys in Melbourne’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral in the late 1990s, shortly after Pell became archbishop of Australia’s second-largest city.
Two of the seven justices — Michelle Gordon and James Edelman — heard Pell’s application for an appeal and unanimously approved it for a hearing by the full bench. The court rejects around 90% of such applications. The judges made a mistake by requiring Pell to prove the abuse was impossible, rather than putting the onus of proof on prosecutors, the lawyers said.
They say Pell should be acquitted of all charges for several reasons, including inconsistencies in the accuser’s version of events.In their written submission to the High Court, prosecutors wrote that Pell’s legal team was asking High Court judges to apply established principles to the facts of the case, which were already carefully and thoroughly explored by the state appeals court.
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