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George Pell hears final High Court decision
The High Court of Australia has handed the decision that could see Cardinal George Pell walk free or spend the rest of his sentence behind bars.
Naomi Neilson
The High Court of Australia has allowed Cardinal Pell’s legal team the appeal, which will see the Cardinal walk free from behind bars and shake off the convictions.
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"Today, the High Court granted special leave to appeal against a decision of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria and unanimously allowed the appeal. The High Court found that the jury, acting rationally on the whole of the evidence, ought to have entertained a doubt as to the applicant's guilt with respect to each of the offences for which he was convicted, and ordered that the convictions be quashed and that verdicts of acquittal be entered in their place. "
Cardinal Pell received his decision from his lawyers while he remained behind bars in Barwon Prison. The decision itself was handed down via Twitter - and soon published online - under social distancing restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Chief Justice Susan Kiefel handed down the full bench’s ruling in an almost-empty High Court registry in Brisbane. The other judges were in their home states and were part of the hearing that was over in just a matter of minutes.
The question at the very centre of the High Court decision was whether it was “open to the jury” to find Cardinal Pell guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
More to come.
