The full bench of the High Court has set aside two days to hear the case of George Pell, as his lawyers believe that the guilt, reputation and legacy of the influential clergyman will turn on six minutes.

Pell was found guilty in 2018 of sexually abusing two 13-year-old choirboys in the 1990s.

Cardinal Pell’s legal team has drawn the court’s attention to the greatest doubt over Pell’s conviction for child sex offences, which the legal team have submitted for its final argument.

Their final argument is when would the archbishop of Melbourne have found himself alone in the priests’ sacristy with two choirboys for the five to six minutes required to assault them?

Another aspect to their final argument is asking where were the seven altar servers who file into the sacristy to bow to the crucifix after the completion of mass?

These questions go to the heart of the issues before the High Court, which is whether it was open to the jury on the basis of evidence provided to find Pell guilty.

There are three possible outcomes of the final appeal.

The first outcome is that the court may refuse special leave to appeal, despite clearing its calendar to deal with Pell.

The second outcome is that the court may grant leave and dismiss the appeal.

In either of these outcomes, Pell would remain a convicted child sex offender and serve the remainder of his minimum three year and eight month prison sentence.

The third outcome is that the High Court may grant special leave to appeal and remove Pell’s conviction.

La Trobe University law professor Patrick Keyzer believes that the second outcome is the most likely outcome.

“Even though this case is about a very important person and a notoriously significant decision, it is nevertheless still a case about a jury verdict of guilt where a court of appeal has found no legal reason for questioning that verdict,’’ Professor Keyzer told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

“The Chief Judge of the County Court heard the criminal trial and it was for the jury to determine whether Pell was guilty. The jury performed its role.

“A majority of the Court of Appeal very carefully went through the trial judgment, found no errors of law and concluded the verdict was open to the jury on the facts.

“There are hundreds of jury trials going on in Australia every year. We have held on to a tradition of jury trial in many jurisdictions for many types of trial because there is a strong belief that people have a significant role to play in making that assessment of guilt."

No one expects the third outcome to happen as early as Wednesday, but even if it does, Pell won’t be there to see it as he is in a high security unit of Barwon Prison.