A 19-minute video prosecutors likened to 'Pac-Man in a cathedral' will play a crucial part in disgraced Cardinal George Pell's appeal against his child sex conviction.
The video shows the layout of St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne, where Pell is said to have sexually assaulted two teenage boys in December 1996, and using witness statements as a guide, shows where key players were when the assault took place.
Pell's lawyer, Robert Richter QC, wanted to use the footage in his closing argument to give the jury a visual interpretation of the defence's version of events on the day in question, The Age reported.
The video was created by professional producers, and showed Pell, choir members, the organist and other people involved in the Sunday Mass as separate coloured dots moving around the cathedral.
Pell (pictured left in 2011 and right in 2019) was found guilty of four counts of indecent assault and one count of rape by a jury at the County Court of Victoria in December. He was taken into custody on Wednesday and will be sentenced March 13
Two young boys had 'nicked off' after a Sunday solemn mass at St Patrick's Cathedral (pictured) in 1996 when Pell found them in the priest's sacristy and raped one and molested another
Defense lawyers had argued Pell was out the front meeting parishioners and the sacristy (pictured) was busy when the assault was said to have taken place, and wanted to show the jury a 19-minute video they said would collate their witness statements and show how it wasn't possible
In their argument, the defence claimed the then-Archbishop of Melbourne had never been left alone, and been speaking with parishioners on the front steps of the church when the assault was said to have taken place.
They said the sacristy, where Pell, now 77, is said to have exposed himself to the pair before pulling one boy's head towards his penis, was busy at the time and therefore could not have been the scene of a terrible sexual assault.
The defence further claimed the two young choirboys, only one of whom is still alive, could not have 'nicked off' from the procession without being noticed, as procedure was so tight at the church.
But prosecutors asked for the video to be rendered inadmissible, as they believed it would be easy for the jury to consider the video an accurate telling of events, as opposed to one side of the story.
According to The Age, Pell's lawyers will also look to prove there were issues with the way the jury of eight men and four women were selected.
Pell was found guilty by a jury in December, and on Wednesday, after the suppression order on the verdict was lifted, he was taken into custody.
The former Vatican treasurer has maintained his innocence and will appeal the verdict on grounds including that the verdict was 'unreasonable' or 'unsafe', his lawyer has reportedly said.
Cardinal George Pell's last ditch effort to overturn his child sex abuse convictions is expected to rely on the grounds the jury verdict was 'unsafe or unreasonable', and could feature a 19-minute video described by prosecutors as 'Pac-Man in the cathedral', where key players are represented by colourful dots on a map
This is the sacristy of St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne, as it looks today and shown to the jury, where Cardinal George Pell molested two 13-year-old choirboys in his ceremonial robes
During the trial, Pell's lone surviving victim, who is now in his 30s, told the court via video-link how he and his friend were assaulted by Pell when they were aged just 13.
He said he and his friend had 'nicked off' after a Sunday solemn mass in December 1996 and were caught swigging sacramental wine in the priest's sacristy by Pell, newly installed as Archbishop of Melbourne.
They were confronted by Pell, who told them they were 'in trouble', before exposing his penis from beneath his ornate ceremonial robes, and molesting the two young boys.
The court was closed for the survivor's evidence of the events that followed - his recollection of standing frozen, watching his friend 'squirm' as his head was pulled toward Pell's genitals.
'Then he turned to me,' he said.
The surviving
