Findings loom on Indigenous teen fatally shot by police
Rex Martinich |
A coroner will return to the outback to hand down her findings into the death of an Indigenous teenager shot by a police officer during a botched arrest.
Warlpiri-Luritja man Kumanjayi Walker died after being shot three times at close range by then-constable Zachary Rolfe during a botched arrest at a home in the Northern Territory community of Yuendumu in November 2019.
In March 2022, an NT Supreme Court jury acquitted Mr Rolfe of murdering the 19-year-old.
NT Coroner Elisabeth Armitage in November closed her long-running inquest to consider more than 5000 pages of transcripts and 1990 pages of written submissions.
An NT courts spokesperson said on Thursday that Judge Armitage would deliver her findings on June 10.
Judge Armitage accepted an invitation from the Parumpurru Committee of Yuendumu to deliver her findings in the remote town where she heard some of the evidence.
Counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer previously told the inquest that Mr Rolfe’s character should be considered as a direct cause of death.
“Mr Rolfe was a man whose ego was wrapped up in his use of force, and who took pride in and derived a sense of worth from expressing his dominance over others,” she said.
“They were generally Aboriginal men and he expressed that dominance with the use of force.”
Counsel for Northern Territory Police previously told Judge Armitage “it is absolutely undeniable that Mr Rolfe is a racist” based on his derogatory text messages about Indigenous people.
Mr Rolfe’s solicitor Luke Officer told the coroner racism could not be considered under the Coroner’s Act, which only permits her to investigate the cause of death.
“There’s no need to inquire into whether racism played a part … there is no direct evidence of that, it has no relevance to cause of death,” Mr Officer said.
13YARN 13 92 76
Lifeline 13 11 14
AAP
