The Northern Territory Supreme Court has heard a police officer intended to kill or seriously injure a Warlpiri teenager when he fired a second and third shot during a failed arrest operation in the remote community of Yuendumu.
Constable Zachary Rolfe, the accused officer, has pleaded not guilty to the 2019 shooting murder of Kumanjayi Walker.
Prosecutor Philip Strickland SC continued to outline the Crown’s case on Tuesday against Zachary Rolfe, facing a murder charge over the fatal shooting of Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendemu in 2019.
If convicted, Rolfe faces a life sentence due to the Territory's mandatory sentencing laws.
Constable Rolfe appears for day two of his murder trial. Source: NITV: Guy Mclean
Mr Strickland said Rolfe was part of the Immediate Response Team sent to Yuendemu to gather intel on the whereabouts of Kumanjayi Walker, who had escaped a rehabilitation program to attend a funeral.
He said the operational plan was to arrest Kumanjayi Walker early the next day.
“That’s what they were tasked to do, find intelligence as to where he would be that night," Mr Strickland told the courtroom.
"They didn’t wait until the Sunday morning to arrest Kumanjayi Walker.”
The prosecution asserted that the impromptu arrest was made without adequate planning.
Prosecutor Philip Strickland said Constable Rolfe's failure to adhere to a plan did not take in to account the risks of arresting Kumanjayi Walker that evening. Source: Supplied: Guy McLean
"... in doing so [Rolfe] did not properly consider the potential risks.”
Kumanjayi Walker died from his injuries after being shot three times by Constable Rolfe. The crown hasn’t charged the officer over the first shot that hit Kumanjayi Walker in the back, saying the accused had been stabbed with 10-centimetre scissors and was defending himself.
Following the first shot, Rolfe’s colleague Constable Adam Eberl wrestled with the teenager and pinned him down. It is alleged that seconds later, Rolfe fired the second and third shots at point blank range.
“There was no legal justification for his actions," Mr Strickland told the court in his opening statement yesterday.
"The accused intended either to kill [Kumanjayi Walker] or at the very least to cause him serious harm."
The second day of proceedings also saw David Edwardson QC lay out the key elements of the defence case, emphasising what he termed Kumanjayi Walker's "violent disposition".
Mr Edwardson told the jury that Kumanjayi Walker attacked the constable without warning and stabbed him in the shoulder near his neck with a pair of medical scissors.
David Edwardson QC said Constable Rolfe was following his training when he shot Kumanjayi Walker. Source: Supplied: Guy McLean
“In the face of that spontaneous attack with an edged weapon, Constable Rolfe was justified in drawing his police firearm and firing a shot into the back of Mr Walker.”
Mr Edwardson asserted that Constable Rolfe had been taught and trained that an “edged weapon equals gun”.
”In other words, where a police officer is confronted with an edged weapon, the appropriate response is to draw your weapon and be prepared to use it," said Mr Edwardson.
"That expression, 'edged weapon equals gun', will loom large and ripple through almost all of the witnesses in this case.”
Mr Edwardson reminded the jury that Mr Rolfe had not been charged over the first shot because it was “an appropriate defensive action.”
“What is in dispute is whether, within the space of a couple of seconds, the subsequent discharge of two further shots into Kumanjayi Walker was unlawful.
“His training required that shots be aimed at his centre body mass to incapacitate, not - as Mr Strickland suggested yesterday - to ensure maximum injury or death.”
