Zachary Rolfe trial: police constable loses last-ditch attempt to strike off one charge

The much ­anticipated murder trial of Zachary Rolfe has began with the police constable suffering a legal blow as the jury selection process begins.

Zachary Rolfe (centre) arrives at the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in Darwin.

Zachary Rolfe will finally get a chance to clear his name, and the family, friends and supporters of his alleged victim, Kumanjayi Walker, get a shot at justice when the young policeman’s much ­anticipated murder trial begins on Monday.

Constable Rolfe stands ­accused of shooting Walker three times after the latter stabbed him with scissors during a botched ­arrest attempt in the troubled Northern Territory outback community of Yuendumu in 2019.

Crown prosecutors say the first of those shots was justified, but the second and third, which began 2.6 seconds after the first, constitute murder. Constable Rolfe is also facing alternative charges of manslaughter and engaging in a violent act causing death.

Constable Rolfe arrived at court on Monday saying it was good the big day was “finally here” as he walked in surrounded by a dozen supporters. “It’s good that it’s finally here,” he said. “It has taken a while, around two years, so it’s good to finally get it started.”

Among Constable Rolfe’s supporters were his parents and the ex soldier turned aspiring politician Heston Russell.

The community of Yuendumu is represented by Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves and Lindsay Japangardi Williams, both of whom declined to comment.

Constable Rolfe’s lawyer David Edwardson QC said he was looking forward to getting on with the proceedings. The trial is expected to run at the NT Supreme Court for about three weeks.

Justice John Burns heard legal argument before empaneling a jury. Constable Rolfe lost a last-ditch attempt by his legal team to have one of the three charges against him struck off the indictment.

The young policeman faces charges of murder, manslaughter and engaging in an act that causes death. His legal team wanted the last of those charges removed.

Justice Burns said the defence’s application argued legislators who enacted that provision did not envisage it would be used against a serving police officer exercising police powers in the course of their duties.

The provision was intended to deal with so-called “one punch” attacks and violence around licensed premises, the defence submission argued.

But Justice Burns said he was not entitled to take comments from the responsible minister’s second reading speech into account as the wording of the final legislation as enacted was not unclear.

He consequently refused the defence’s application. He did allow a separate application by Constable Rolfe’s lawyers to prevent text messages collected from his phone being used as evidence against him.

Constable Rolfe’s lawyers say their client’s life and his partner were in danger, and Constable Rolfe had followed his training. The second and third shots were fired at close range after Walker had been wrestled to the floor.

The case has been closely watched by supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement and by members of the police force. Some officers were angered when the policeman was charged within days of the 2019 incident and before a police investigation was complete.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner has been accused of interfering in the decision to prosecute, something his office privately denies but which he has repeatedly declined to speak about on the record.

At the time of his arrest, ­Kumanjayi Walker was wanted for breaching a court order. Three days before the incident, he had threatened two local policemen with an axe.

Constable Rolfe was part of a four-man rapid response team sent from Alice Springs to help ­relieve the burden on local service members and attempt to arrest Walker.

The jury is likely to hear evidence about whether a plan to ­arrest Walker safely went wrong.

Several hundred people are understood to have been called to attend jury empanelment on Monday.

The jury is expected to sit for fewer than four hours a day to avoid all being deemed close contacts if one of them catches Covid-19.

Media may be obliged to ­report from a separate room or via live stream due to pandemic-related space constraints in the courtroom. The trial is expected to run for several weeks.

After nine months of Covid-related delays, suppressed legal arguments and High Court interventions, this morning The Australian launches daily updates of our podcast Yuendumu: The Trial, which is available in our app and wherever you get your podcasts.

It will be a forensic analysis of each day’s action in court, presented by journalists Kristin Shorten and Matt Cunningham. Go to theaustralian.com.au/yuendumu for all our coverage and podcast updates. In our app, go to Podcasts each morning for a new episode. You can hear Yuendumu: The Trial wherever you get your podcasts.