Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Rolfe defended the charges on the grounds he feared for the life of Eberl and was acting in good faith and “the reasonable performance of his duties” when he fired the final two shots. The prosecution alleged Walker no longer posed a threat to Rolfe or Eberl by that stage. These final two shots were fired from close range at a time when Rolfe’s partner, then constable Adam Eberl, was attempting to restrain Walker on a mattress. This shot was not subject to any charges.īut, the court heard, 2.6 seconds after the first shot, Rolfe fired again, and then 0.5 seconds later he fired a third time. Walker stabbed Rolfe with scissors prior to the first shot being fired.
#Found not guilty today trial
The trial heard Rolfe shot Walker, a 19-year-old Warlpiri man, while trying to arrest him in the remote community of Yuendumu, about 300km from Alice Springs, on 9 November 2019. Northern Territory police association president Paul McCue said it was a travesty Rolfe was ever charged.ĭavid Edwardson QC, Rolfe’s barrister, said it was regrettable that the prosecution had occurred and that “a number of public figures” had “a lot to say about the case”, adding: “Consequences will flow.”
#Found not guilty today full
“It is our view that the family of Kumanjayi Walker, and the Warlpiri community, and indeed the Australian people deserve no less than that full scrutiny.” “We anticipate that those issues, and the evidence that could not be examined in this trial, will be very carefully scrutinised at the inquest. Prosecutor Philip Strickland SC said the trial had not been able to explore all of the issues raised by the shooting.
“His death has affected our community and our family in ways that we can’t describe.” Was here in pain? Excruciating pain, I would think.
Sometimes I think about how he must have felt in his last moments. “We were robbed of the opportunity to say goodbye to him. Samara Fernandez-Brown, Walker’s cousin, said she had often thought of his last moments, saying he died in Yuendumu police station while his family and friends gathered outside, trying to get answers. “We do not want to see another black fella, or a girl, to be shot,” Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, a Yuendumu elder, said.
About 30% of the population of the Northern Territory is Aboriginal. They also questioned why there had been no Aboriginal people among the 12 members of the jury. In harrowing scenes following the verdict, family members and friends of Walker, and Yuendumu elders urged an end to the use of guns in remote communities, and made clear their hopes that an inquest into Walker’s death scheduled for later this year would provide a modicum of closure. “I’m going to leave this space for them.” Outside court on Friday, Rolfe said: “A lot of people are hurting today, Kumanjayi Walker’s family and his community. Kumanjayi Walker was shot dead on 9 November, 2019, in the remote community of Yuendumu, about 300km from Alice Springs.
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