George Pell sexual abuse trials and fresh investigation

Nick's current affairs & general discussion about anything that's not sport.
Voice your opinion on stories of interest to all at Nick's.

Moderator: bbmods

Post Reply
User avatar
stui magpie
Posts: 54850
Joined: Tue May 03, 2005 10:10 am
Location: In flagrante delicto
Has liked: 134 times
Been liked: 169 times

Post by stui magpie »

In a situation where you have one persons word against another with zero evidence to support either case, you may make a decision on which one you believe but I don't understand how you could decide that beyond reasonable doubt
Every dead body on Mt Everest was once a highly motivated person, so maybe just calm the **** down.
Wokko
Posts: 8764
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 12:04 pm

Post by Wokko »

Appears to be a gross miscarriage of justice under the legal system but probably a morally just punishment. He's obviously covered up for and facilitated pedo priests for decades but ultimately that isn't what he was being charged with.

I think he's suffered from the very common legal problem of being an unlikeable dick and having to front a jury, even if he didn't testify (which was to hide what an insufferable tosser he is).
User avatar
stui magpie
Posts: 54850
Joined: Tue May 03, 2005 10:10 am
Location: In flagrante delicto
Has liked: 134 times
Been liked: 169 times

Post by stui magpie »

^

I've said similar previously, he's been nailed to the cross for the sins of the church, which I don't have a massive issue with morally but hard to defend legally.
Every dead body on Mt Everest was once a highly motivated person, so maybe just calm the **** down.
User avatar
Woods Of Ypres
Posts: 3141
Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 3:29 pm
Location: Yugoslavia
Has liked: 2 times
Been liked: 7 times

Post by Woods Of Ypres »

juries are idiots, i was on a jury recently for a similar thing (alleged sex crime), a few of the jurors said they didn't like the look of him hence guilty. you get bums on juries, unemployed etc
User avatar
David
Posts: 50690
Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2003 4:04 pm
Location: the edge of the deep green sea
Has liked: 20 times
Been liked: 84 times

Post by David »

^ One does worry about that. I've heard the same from someone else who previously sat on a jury. One hopes that having twelve jurors mitigates that risk.
"Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence." – Julian Assange
User avatar
Woods Of Ypres
Posts: 3141
Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 3:29 pm
Location: Yugoslavia
Has liked: 2 times
Been liked: 7 times

Post by Woods Of Ypres »

we got there in the end, but it was scary tbh
User avatar
stui magpie
Posts: 54850
Joined: Tue May 03, 2005 10:10 am
Location: In flagrante delicto
Has liked: 134 times
Been liked: 169 times

Post by stui magpie »

Summary of reasons for the decision.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kvCpgI ... yYo_c/view

I got it from the Herald Sun so don't know if it's protected.

The appeal centred on the 1st ground of appeal, that essentially the jury could not make the decision that there was no reasonable doubt. 2 of the 3 Judges rejected that.

Much of the analysis centred on Opportunity. In criminal investigations, the holy trinity is Means, Opportunity, Motive. It seems 2 of the 3 rejected that there was not reasonable doubt on the matter of opportunity, believing whether or not he actually did it came down then to whether you believed the evidence of the complainant since Pell never testified in his own defence.
Every dead body on Mt Everest was once a highly motivated person, so maybe just calm the **** down.
User avatar
Pies4shaw
Posts: 34888
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:14 pm
Has liked: 136 times
Been liked: 182 times

Post by Pies4shaw »

It doesn't appear to be behind a paywall but, in case it finds its way behind one, here's the link to the summary as published on the Court's website: https://www.supremecourt.vic.gov.au/sit ... _web_0.pdf

In any event, why not read the reasons for judgment? It isn't complex (although it is very long) and it deals with all the question you really want answered about, eg, the role of juries and why a jury verdict should be preferred, in the ordinary course of events, to the opinion of 3 judges: https://www.supremecourt.vic.gov.au/sit ... _web_2.pdf

In case the Supreme Court link to the reasons is unavailable, here's the Austlii link:

http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/view ... 9/186.html
User avatar
KenH
Posts: 1761
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2010 4:29 pm

Post by KenH »

I believe that it is "God's will" that he serves time! Ha ha
Cheers big ears
K
Posts: 21557
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2011 1:23 pm
Has liked: 6 times
Been liked: 32 times

Post by K »

Did anyone watch the livestream? Would it just be reading out the documents P4S links?
User avatar
David
Posts: 50690
Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2003 4:04 pm
Location: the edge of the deep green sea
Has liked: 20 times
Been liked: 84 times

Post by David »

I was watching ABC 24, but it seems the court livestream they were broadcasting was having lots of technical difficulties (lagging, glitches, etc.). Still, heard the key bits; it was pretty brief and to the point.
"Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence." – Julian Assange
K
Posts: 21557
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2011 1:23 pm
Has liked: 6 times
Been liked: 32 times

Post by K »

It's possible that the interest exceeded the bandwidth.
K
Posts: 21557
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2011 1:23 pm
Has liked: 6 times
Been liked: 32 times

Post by K »

Why Justice Mark Weinberg believed George Pell should go free

https://www.theage.com.au/national/vict ... 52jaj.html

'Justice Weinberg ... said there was a body of evidence that made it "impossible to accept" the victim's account.

"From ... the complainant’s evidence, it can be seen that there was ample material upon which his account could be legitimately subject to criticism. There were inconsistencies, and discrepancies, and a number of his answers simply made no sense," Justice Weinberg wrote in his judgment released on Wednesday.

"An unusual feature of this case was that it depended entirely upon the complainant being accepted, beyond reasonable doubt, as a credible and reliable witness. Yet the jury were invited to accept his evidence without there being any independent support for it."

After assessing the evidence presented at Pell's County Court trial last year, Justice Weinberg said he would have quashed the cardinal's five convictions for child sex offences.

But he was in the minority.
...

Of the 325-page judgement delivered by the Court of Appeal, Justice Weinberg's reasons accounted for 200 pages.

"I am troubled by the fact that I find myself constrained to differ from two of my colleagues whose opinions I always respect greatly," he wrote.

"That has caused me to reflect even more carefully upon the proper outcome of this application. Having done so, however, I cannot, in good conscience, do other than to maintain my dissent." '
K
Posts: 21557
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2011 1:23 pm
Has liked: 6 times
Been liked: 32 times

Post by K »

Pies4shaw wrote:FWIW, the President, the Chief Justice and the Honourable Justice Weinberg will work this out, entirely unassisted.
We now have the uncomfortable position of having had split juries and split judges.
User avatar
think positive
Posts: 40243
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 8:33 pm
Location: somewhere
Has liked: 342 times
Been liked: 105 times

Post by think positive »

KenH wrote:I believe that it is "God's will" that he serves time! Ha ha
Well done!!

Even made the news here! Good stuff, may he rot!
You cant fix stupid, turns out you cant quarantine it either!
Post Reply