Pell awaits his legal fate
Court decides if trial is warranted
It will be weeks before a court decides if Cardinal George Pell will stand trial over historical sex offence charges.
IT will be weeks before a court decides if Cardinal George Pell will stand trial over historical sex offence charges involving multiple complainants. Pell, 76, faced the last day of evidence at a pre-trial hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday.
His legal team, led by barrister Robert Richter QC, has cross-examined more than 30 witnesses in open court during the four-week committal hearing.
Complainants also testified in a closed court when the hearing began on March 5. Like the charges, it’s unknown what the complainants said during the five and a half days courtroom 22 was closed to the public.
But Pell’s lawyers repeatedly questioned the credibility of other witnesses in cross-examination, as well as the strength of the prosecution case against the highestranked Catholic to be charged with sex offences.
One man was accused of lying about his son naming Pell as the perpetrator of an alleged sex offence during a waterskiing outing at a rural Victorian lake.
“At some stage after you made your statement, between July 2015 and today, you made that up,” Mr Richter said.
“That is an insult,” the father responded.
Other witnesses were questioned about their observations, their memory and their interactions with Pell and his accusers.
A cinema manager said he did not remember seeing Pell at a theatre where Pell is accused of abusing a complainant during a screening of the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Colleague Fr Charles Portelli said Pell was never alone at a church where he is ac- cused of committing a sex offence.
“It was not possible for him to be alone at a Sunday Mass. It’s simply impossible,” the senior priest said.
Pell’s lawyers also attacked the police investigation, accusing police of having tunnel vision and running a “get Pell” operation.
The investigation into Pell, codenamed Operation Tethering, began in March 2013 before any crime had been reported.
While cross-examining the lead investigator, Mr Richter said Pell was targeted for “special treatment” by detectives from Sano Taskforce, which investigates historical sex abuse.
But Sergeant Christopher Reed denied “zeroing in” on Australia’s highest-ranked Catholic.
The detective was the last person to give evidence at the pre-trial hearing.
The defence and prosecution will make written submissions and return to court on April 17.
Pell, who denies all charges, has been excused from appearing on that day.
It was not possible for him (Pell) to be alone at a Sunday Mass
FATHER CHARLES PORTELLI