SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
Australian Broadcasting Company
March 5, 2019
By Damian McIver
Top barrister, Robert Richter QC, will no longer represent Cardinal George Pell in court for his sentence and appeal, saying he is too emotional and angry about the guilty verdict handed down by the jury.
Richter says he will be available to help Pell’s team and is angry and upset at the outcome
He denies his decision is linked to an apology he made after describing Pell’s offending as “plain vanilla”
The senior barrister says he continues to have every faith in Pell’s case
Pell was convicted of sexually abusing two choirboys while he was the archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s.
He is due to be sentenced on March 13 but has already lodged an appeal.
“I’m too angry and upset at the outcome to bring the objectivity that an appeal requires,” he said.
Mr Richter said he will still be available to help Pell’s legal team and is convinced he had a strong case in overturning what he called “a questionable conviction”.
“I will not be arguing the appeal myself simply because I believe the Cardinal deserves someone who can be dispassionate enough to present the case to the Court of Appeal,” he said.
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