Zach Rolfe murder trial now pencilled in for 2022, pending High Court decision

NT Police officer Zach Rolfe will now likely have to wait until next year to face a jury while the High Court considers whether to grant leave to appeal a ruling on a police immunity defence.

NT Police officer Zach Rolfe will now likely have to wait until next year to face a jury while the High Court considers whether to grant leave to appeal a ruling on a police immunity defence.

Rolfe was due to face trial in the Supreme Court last month for the alleged murder of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker during an arrest gone wrong in Yuendumu in 2019.

Zach Rolfe and his legal team arrive at the Supreme Court in Darwin in July. Picture: Jason Walls

But before the jury could be empanelled, prosecutors applied for a review of the court’s decision to allow them to consider whether Rolfe was acting “in good faith” in the course of his duties when he fired the fatal shots.

The High Court ultimately agreed to hear arguments on the immunity with a special leave hearing now set down for early November.

On Monday, Crown prosecutor Philip Strickland SC and defence barrister David Edwardson QC asked trial judge Dean Mildren to pencil in a new trial date for February next year.

But Justice Mildren revealed he was due to retire at the end of the week and the case would have to be handed back to Chief Justice Michael Grant so a new trial judge could be assigned.

The case will now return to court for a directions hearing on November 5, by which time the High Court is expected to have delivered its ruling on whether to grant leave to appeal.