A decision on whether there is enough evidence for a Northern Territory police officer to stand trial after being charged with the murder of a 19-year-old Aboriginal man will be made next month.
Kumanjayi Walker was fatally shot at his home in Yuendumu, around 300km northwest of Alice Springs, on the evening of 9 November last year.
Mr Rolfe’s lawyer David Edwardson said his client should be acquitted, arguing he was simply acting in the line of duty “in accordance to his training.”
“The law recognises, and rightly so, the reality of actions in the agony of the moment,” Mr Edwardson said.
“There is no evidence, in our submission, upon which a jury, properly instructed, could lawfully find that there were no reasonable grounds for the accused’s belief.
“This is plainly a case of justifiable defensive conduct and no properly instructed jury could exclude this defence.”
Indigenous man Kumanjayi Walker, 19, was shot dead by police in Yuendumu in Central Australia in November 2019. Source: Supplied
Crown prosecutor Phil Strickland said evidence showed otherwise.
“It is quite incorrect to say there is not a single piece of evidence to say that he did not comply wholeheartedly with his training,” Mr Strickland told the court.
“There is abundant evidence from the experts he did not comply with his training.
“It is a jury question particularly whether there was a reasonable response. And in my submission your Honour would reject the application.”
Family gathered outside the Alice Springs Local Court on Friday, with Mr Walker’s cousin Samara Fernandez addressing the crowd.
The matter has been adjourned to 26 October at the Alice Springs Local court.
