The " George Pell " Appeal !

This week  George Pell's appeal failed and instead of walking out the door of Victoria's highest court a free man he will return to his prison cell where he spends twenty-three hours of each day in protective custody.

That may not be the end of the matter.   His legal team and his many supporters are now considering a further appeal to the High Court of Australia and that will depend on the High Court agreeing to review his conviction.

Pell will certainly be encouraged that his appeal was not unanimously rejected.  Three senior judges heard the case and two decided he should remain in prison while the other gave a dissenting opinion. It all boiled down to the evidence of elderly victims in contrast to the claim that the Cathedral where the offences allegedly took place would not be without observation - and the robes worn by a Cardinal would preclude such sexual activity.

It is rare for the convicted in the Australian legal system to simply accept the sentence handed down by their judge and serve that sentence without  launching an appeal.   They are encouraged by the number of times a technicality uncovered results in the conviction being set aside or the prison sentence being substantially reduced.   It is usual for this review to be the sought in many courts and for a high number of reasons.

Any appeal to the High Court of Australia involves punishing legal costs.  To be successful it contends the applicants team of highly paid barristers  doing combat with the legal minds that will decide the issue.  This is not something undertaken lightly and many people will be curious about who will be paying George Pell's legal bill  ?

A priest takes a vow of poverty and chastity and in old age becomes the recipient of the grace and favour bestowed by his church.  In retirement, George Pell would normally look forward to church provided accommodation in a comfortable home with other elderly priests. Instead, he is a convicted prisoner and will spend several years in a prison cell.

Many people think that George Pell's conviction was more a case of public opinion being placated by him being offered up as a substitute for the sins of his church in covering up paedophile activities within the priesthood.  It was Pell who had his hand on the amount of compensation offered and he could certainly be criticised for parsimony.

Like any other convicted criminal, he has the right to appeal his conviction.   As his employer, the Vatican could reasonable be expected to provide a degree of financial support and it is likely that prominent legal barristers may make their services available pro bono because of the publicity this man will inevitably attract.

Unfortunately, in many minds  George Pell and the Roman Catholic church are inextricably moulded together as the transgressor of church paedophile activity that has persisted for centuries.  This conviction relates to a specific event of which he is accused and that alone is the reason he is now a convicted prisoner.

He is entitled to that evidence review  !