It took the jury just over seven hours to return a unanimous 'not guilty' verdict, ending a five-week trial where more than forty witnesses were called, and over a hundred pieces of evidence were tendered.
The acquittal ends almost two and half years of uncertainty for the families of Kumanjayi Walker and 30-year-old Zachary Rolfe.
An unprecedented police security cordon surrounded the Northern Territory Supreme Court building this morning as the jury considered the fate of 30-year-old Constable Zachary Rolfe.
Before a packed court room of media, police, lawyers and family and supporters of Kumanjayi Walker and Zachary Rolfe, the female jury foreman confirmed the 'not guilty' verdict on all three counts.
Defence barrister David Edwardson and his client Zachary Rolfe leave the NT Supreme Court for the final time. Source: NITV News.
A big contingent of family and Elders from Yuendumu have attended the trial and have endured repeated examinations of the moment Constable Rolfe fired three shots into Kumanjayi Walker in agonising and explicit detail.
Justice John Burns thanked the jury before releasing them, and told Zachary Rolfe that he was "discharged", meaning he was free to go.
Constable Rolfe shot and killed 19 year old Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu on the night of November 9 , 2019.
He pleaded not guilty to murder and two alternative charges of manslaughter and committing a violent act causing death.
Senior Warlpiri man Ned Jampijinpa Hargreaves speaking after the verdict. Source: NITV News
The shooting of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker by Constable Zachary Rolfe sent shock waves through the Northern Territory and its Aboriginal communities that reverberated around the nation.
More to come.
