– Tej Francis
MELBOURNE/ AUSTRALIA
BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT: WAS PELL CONVICTED WITHOUT FEAR AND FAVOR?
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(The age) George Pell is a polarizing figure, which is perhaps why there are now two warring camps – those who want him to be guilty of historical sex offences against two choirboys and those who don’t. Many, including Pell (although he denies it), may be guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by moving and hiding pedophile priests and concealing evidence that could convict them.
But that is not what he was charged with. He went to trial on allegations that he assaulted two boys in St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1996. He denied the allegations, with the jury believing the testimony of one of the boys that he was molested in the crowded church. Pell was also convicted in relation to the second boy, although that alleged victim had previously denied ever being molested, did not make a complaint and was not interviewed by police or examined in court (he died in 2014).
Which means Pell was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt on the uncorroborated evidence of one witness, without forensic evidence, a pattern of behavior or a confession. It is a matter of public record that it is rare to run a case on the word of one witness, let alone gain a conviction. In recent years there has been a shift in the investigation and prosecution of sex crimes. For years victims have been denied justice because not enough resources were thrown at cases that were not black and white.
Now police are told to come from a mindset of believing a person who says they have been sexually assaulted and more cases in the grey area are being presented to juries. In reality, sex crimes are being treated differently to other crimes, although the standard of proof remains the same. Pell has become a lightning rod in the worldwide storm of anger at a systemic cover-up of priestly abuses. But that doesn’t make him a child molester. If Pell did molest those two teenagers in the busy cathedral, it certainly does not fit the usual pattern of pedophile priests.
Those in power identify vulnerable potential victims, groom and then isolate them, committing offences in private then pressuring the abused into silence. Most of the successful historical prosecutions come when police find multiple individual victims who testify about similar facts.
WASHINGTON DC
SUPREME COURT HEARS ARGUMENTS IN ‘PEACE CROSS’ CASE
(CNA) The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in the case Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission v. American Humanist Association, which will determine whether a cross-shaped monument honoring those killed in WWI is a violation of the First Amendment.
The Bladensburg Peace Cross is a 40-foot stone cross erected in 1925 in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission has performed regular maintenance around the monument since 1961, as it is located on a median in the middle of a public road. This, the American Humanist Association has argued, is entangling government unnecessarily with religion.
Atheist and secular campaigners have contend that because of the cruciform shape of the monument, its display and maintenance on public land constitutes a public affirmation of religion. Under questioning by the justices, the Supreme Court heard Wednesday that there was a legitimate, historical context to the monument, and that the cross shape was commonly used at the time to honor those killed in wars. A lawyer representing the park commission pointed out that the court had previously ruled that in certain cases religious symbols may be appropriate to for public display, depending on context.
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