On August 21, after nearly three months of deliberation, Victoria’s Court of Appeal handed down its decision to dismiss Cardinal George Pell’s appeal by a 2-1 vote, sending the 79-year-old back to a high security prison.
The verdict did not spark the same media euphoria as the sentencing in March, the celebrations marred perhaps by the conclusion of the dissenting judge, Justice Mark Weinberg, that the appeal should be upheld. The only criminal lawyer on the panel, Weinberg devoted 214 pages outlining why he believed the charges were “implausible”.
