The highly anticipated trial of Northern Territory Constable Zachary Rolfe is currently underway in the NT Supreme Court.
Rolfe stands accused of murdering Warlpiri 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker in the remote community of Yuendumu in 2019. It is the first time a police officer has been tried for murder for a First Nations death in custody case in the NT since the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Rolfe pleads not guilty.
The murder trial will rest on whether two of the three shots Rolfe fired at Walker were legally justified, the NT Supreme Court has heard.
On day two of the trial, crown prosecutors said the accused ignored plans around arresting Walker and instead entered a home in Yuendumu, a remote community outside Alice Springs, in November 2019 with the intention of arresting him. Shortly after entering the home, a struggle ensued and Constable Rolfe fired the first of three shots at the teen.
Crikey has been covering the case live through Twitter Spaces with journalist and lawyer Hannah Ryan reporting from the scene in Darwin. You can catch up on the key details from day one and day two of the trial here.
Zachary Rolfe murder trial day three
Click on the tweet below to listen to a recording of Hannah Ryan recapping day three of the Zachary Rolfe trial live from Darwin.
