Whether a Northern Territory policeman’s trial for allegedly murdering an Indigenous man during an outback arrest will be further delayed remains up in the air.
Constable Zachary Rolfe, 29, is accused of murdering Kumanjayi Walker, 19, who was shot three times in the remote community of Yuendumu in November 2019
Rolfe is scheduled to stand trial in the NT Supreme Court next Monday but it could be postponed if the Crown successfully applies for a stay order in the High Court.
The prosecution on Tuesday announced its intention to seek leave from the High Court to appeal a recent legal decision related to Rolfe’s defence.
It applied to NT Supreme Court Acting-Justice Dean Mildren on Thursday to delay the start of the trial but it was refused.
Prosecutor Philip Strickland SC said he would now apply to the High Court to overturn that decision.
That could be heard on Friday or Monday with Justice Mildren saying he may still empanel a jury on the first day of the trial but could be persuaded to delay until Tuesday.
The Crown wants to appeal a decision made on Friday by the full bench of the NT Supreme Court that found Rolfe’s legal team could employ three separate defences at the trial.
These include that he was acting in “good faith” when performing his job as a police officer and should not be held criminally liable due to an immunity clause in the NT Police Administration Act.
Mr Strickland said the decision by the NT Supreme Court was wrong and undermined the reasonableness of criminal law.
He said the question about how to interpret the act is central to Rolfe’s trial and the appeal had to be heard before the trial started because the law did not permit the Crown to appeal the verdict if the jury acquitted Rolfe.
He said the case had attracted notoriety, was of great public importance and should be run in accordance with the law.
When refusing the stay application, Justice Mildren said the application to seek leave to appeal to the High Court was likely to fail and a great deal of cost and organisation had gone into preparing the trial for Monday.
He said any further delays would also burden the witnesses.
Rolfe is charged with murder and the alternative counts of manslaughter and engaging in a violent act causing death.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
His trial has been postponed twice by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first time was in July when the Crown’s interstate prosecution team found themselves unable to travel to the NT from virus-ravaged Sydney.
It was later rescheduled to Wednesday when prosecutor Philip Strickland SC agreed to fly to Darwin to undertake two weeks’ quarantine at Howard Springs.
But it was further postponed when parts of the Top End were plunged into a three-day lockdown on Monday after an infected US man travelled from Sydney to Darwin.
That lockdown ended at midday Thursday.
When the trial goes ahead it is expected to run for three weeks in Darwin, which is about 1500 kilometres north of Yuendumu.
AAP
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