Policeman Zachary Rolfe's murder trial over the outback shooting of an Indigenous man will be delayed again as Australia's highest court decides whether to allow a key tenet of his defence.
The constable is charged with the murder of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker, shot three times in the remote Northern Territory community of Yuendumu in November 2019.
The High Court on Friday agreed to consider a prosecution challenge to Rolfe's legal team relying on an immunity clause contained in the territory's Police Administration Act.
This clause provides a protection for officers from civil and criminal prosecution for certain actions if performed in good faith during the exercise of police power.
Its interpretation is central to Rolfe's pending trial in the NT Supreme Court, with Philip Strickland SC fearing it could culminate in an "incorrect" acquittal by the jury.
His trial was previously pushed back from August just an hour before the already twice-delayed proceedings were slated to begin because the High Court granted a stay over the issue.
