I don’t think you can defend Pell now. I think it was fair to allow the right to a fair trial and the right to an appeal proccess without passing judgment but the fact a majority saw the correct decision means defending Pell is only defending sexual assualt.
Although, I don’t think Howard or Abbott ever ‘defended’ Pell… Abbott just said he was allowed the right to a fair trial and an appeal. Howard was a reference and acknowledged that the offending seemed out of character. I don’t/didn’t have a problem with that.
As I have said previously I was unsure about the media coverage of this trial and thought the jury might have been misled by the media and that Pell didn’t have the right to a fair trial. However, having the right to that appeal to me suggests that he is guilty unless proven otherwise.
It is impossible to argue the jury could’ve been swayed by media coverage given the media was gagged about the case almost as soon as he was charged.
They weren’t before they were gagged. And there was still access to the coverage overseas so not entirely true. But in anycase it was found that the jury could reasonably come to that decision so its pointless arguing it. I’ve always been worried about the medias involvement in cases. There is an agenda to a lot of media corporations and its something I don’t trust.
10 News First Promo for tonight:
Juries are very good at following instructions from judges to disregard any media coverage of the case, and they take an oath to only judge the case on the facts. There are very few examples of juries being improperly influenced. A lot of proper court reporters (ones who cover the cases day in, day out) do a terrific job.
You may think that but there are clear cases of this being incorrect. Including in Brisbane a few years ago with that guy who was on tinder… But anyway this is a discussion for a different forum. I just know if I was in a situation I would rather have an expert reside over a trial than people who are not neccessarily educated in the system and a world that has been corrupt by media. I know an ex judge and now high profile QC who thinks the said the same thing. Juries have way too much access to information and opinions than they did before. This is why the media should be careful with how they distribute their facts and make sure they are facts and not opinions. But anyhow its just differening opinions. I saw headlines, misinterpreted evidence and opinions while, before and after the trial. And yes there are some good reporters. ABC have some fantastic news articles. Yet there are some terrible ones. And some of the coverage reminded me of the old historical witch trials where the presumption of innoncence was no more. That is the issue I had with the media coverage on it.
I actually listened to ABC Melbourne today and it was insightful and looked at both arguments. It was very well done.
3AW this morning.
This guy makes no sense.
More nonsense.
Hilarious. Nuance when it’s a pedophile cardinal, but black and white when it comes to gays etc etc
Victoria’s director of public prosecutions (Kerri Judd QC) has dropped an additional 28 charges, including against reporters associated with The Age, Brisbane Times and WA Today.
Charges have also been dropped against Fairfax Media, because it was taken over by Nine Entertainment, and the Canberra Times.
But 100 charges are continuing against 30 Australian news organisations and editorial staff, including six individuals at News Corp, for contempt of court.
Charges have also been dropped against Fairfax Media, because it was taken over by Nine Entertainment
Interesting. Wonder what the reasoning behind this is; if News Corp (for example) were hypothetically to divest their papers to, say, another Murdoch owned entity (Illyria?) would they be exempt from such litigation?
I would say not, otherwise they’d all run rampant and then slink away.
New claims of child sexual abuse by Cardinal George Pell exposed in Revelation
Watch the concluding 2 episodes of the ground-breaking documentary series on ABC TV and iview on Tuesday 31 March and Thursday 2 April at 8:30pm
Across two compelling nights of must-see television, an exclusive interview with one of the Church’s most prolific sex-offenders, Bernard McGrath. In a tense encounter filmed in a maximum-security prison, he identifies the religious leaders responsible for the cover-up of his crimes.
And in Revelation’s cinematic, feature-length finale, explosive new allegations of child sexual abuse by Cardinal George Pell are exposed.
Click here to watch promo
The world-first exclusive reveals the gripping story of an individual from a small town in Australia, pitted against a former Prince of the Church. “I chose to remain silent, never to tell a soul, and I got through a good 40 years of that,” says the survivor of sexual abuse, who publicly reveals the story of his tormented boyhood for the first time. “I want to heal now. I’ve carried that burden for long enough.”
With him are other men describing how predatory priests and brothers took advantage of vulnerable children in the Catholic community of Ballarat.
For the first time in interviews, priests describe the attitude amongst fellow holy men at the time these crimes were committed.
“Abusing children wasn’t the desperate thing it is now,” says one Ballarat priest.
Revelation’s epic finale transports viewers to the heart of power in the global Catholic Church, as it battles for the hearts and minds of the faithful amid the cover up of crimes against children for decades.
Australia’s most senior Catholic, Archbishop Mark Coleridge, tells Ferguson that at the heart of child abuse within the Church is the dark and destructive use of power. “When I look back now, I cringe. I thought I knew what I was dealing with, I didn’t have a clue.”
*Cardinal Pell was convicted in 2018 of sexually abusing two choirboys in Melbourne Cathedral in the 1990s. The High Court is considering his application to appeal the verdict. He denies all claims of sexual abuse.
Revelation concludes across 2 nights – Tuesday 31 March and Thursday 2 April at 8.30pm on ABC TV and iview. Watch episode 1 on ABC iview.
High Court of Australia will hand down it’s decision on Pell’s appeal next Tuesday (April 7th) at 10am