AUSTRALIA: Vatican Cardinal George Pell Appeals Child Sexual Abuse Convictions On Jury Plea Technicality

The Guardian reports:

George Pell is arguing his child sexual abuse convictions should be overturned or he should receive a retrial, because of a “fundamental irregularity” that prevented him from entering a not-guilty plea in front of his jury.

The Victorian court of appeal has released Pell’s grounds for appeal against his December conviction for sexually abusing two 13-year-old choirboys at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in December 1996 and early 1997, when he was the archbishop.

“There was a fundamental irregularity in the trial process, because the accused was not arraigned in the presence of the jury panel as required,” the appeal, filed by Pell’s barrister, Robert Richter QC, reads.