Six months before Constable Zachary Rolfe fatally shot Kumanjayi Walker, a Northern Territory judge found the police officer likely "deliberately banged" an Aboriginal man's head into the floor, rendering him unconscious, and then "lied" in his evidence to the court.
A jury in the NT Supreme Court last week found Constable Rolfe not guilty of murder and two alternative charges in relation to Mr Walker's death following an attempted arrest in Yuendumu in November 2019.
Until now, details of a separate, unrelated case — in which a local court judge levelled highly critical findings against Constable Rolfe — had been suppressed and could not be put to the jury.
That case involved allegations against Alice Springs resident Malcolm Ryder, who pleaded not guilty to hindering and assaulting Constable Rolfe in January 2018.
But in his findings, Judge Greg Borchers said the charges against Mr Ryder — who needed 16 stitches above his eyes after being knocked out during his arrest — could not be substantiated.
Instead, the judge blasted Constable Rolfe's evidence and actions.
"I find that Constable Rolfe lacks credibility," he told the court in May 2019.
Judge Borchers said the officer "lied" about Mr Ryder's behaviour in the lead up to his arrest.
He also said Mr Ryder's injuries likely occurred when Constable Rolfe punched him in the face and then "deliberately banged" his head into the floor.
Some of Constable Rolfe's evidence was 'a pure fabrication', judge found
The court heard Mr Ryder and his partner arrived home from a shopping trip when they heard his stepson screaming from inside a bedroom, where a group of officers were arresting him.
Mr Ryder told the court he was "angry", and he and his partner ran into the house to "tell the police not to get rough".
Another officer, who saw the couple enter the house, broadcast over the police radio: "There's a big group of family running into the house. Watch your back."
As Mr Ryder entered the bedroom where his stepson was being handcuffed, he was pepper-sprayed by one of the officers.
Constable Rolfe told the court he had seen Mr Ryder "throwing punches" towards that officer, while another officer said she had seen Mr Ryder hit Constable Rolfe in the face, but later conceded it was Mr Ryder's partner who had hit Constable Rolfe.
But the judge said footage captured by one of the other officer's body-worn cameras showed no evidence of Mr Ryder trying to hit anyone inside the bedroom.
"Constable Rolfe [and the other officer's] evidence is wrong and is a pure fabrication," the judge stated.
Incident that left Mr Ryder unconscious not captured on camera
After being pepper-sprayed, the court heard Mr Ryder immediately left the bedroom and was chased by Constable Rolfe and another officer down a hallway.
But the next 27 seconds, during which Mr Ryder was knocked out, were not captured on a body-worn camera.
Mr Ryder told the court one of the officers grabbed him by the collar, pushed him onto the ground and then punched his left eyebrow before forcing his head into the floor.
"He didn't remember anything after that as he was rendered unconscious," the judge said.
Constable Rolfe told the court that after leaving the bedroom, Mr Ryder was "swinging wildly" and struck him in the face "causing immediate pain to my forehead".
He said Mr Ryder "needed to be arrested" for committing an offence and that he and another officer tackled him to the ground.
Constable Rolfe said Mr Ryder then tried to scratch his face with fingernails.
"I was fearful that he was going to gouge my eyes, and in order to defend myself, I struck him once on the left side of the face with my closed right fist," he said.
After handcuffing Mr Ryder, Constable Rolfe said he noticed a cut above Mr Ryder's right eye.
"I assumed that happened when we tackled him and he hit his head on the floor."
Judge accepted Mr Ryder's version of events
In summing up the case, Judge Borchers remained unconvinced about the veracity of Constable Rolfe's evidence.
"He lied," the judge told the court.
"He has lied in a statutory declaration about what happened in the bedroom."
Judge Borchers said nobody but Constable Rolfe himself could say how Mr Ryder was later knocked out, as the other officers either did not see what happened or could not be relied on with their evidence.
The judge said if Mr Ryder's injury to his right eye was the result of him knocking his head on the floor while being tackled, as Constable Rolfe assumed, then it was "highly likely" Mr Ryder was unconscious when the officer punched him above the left eye.
"It is more likely, however, that Ryder was punched first to the left eyebrow by Rolfe's right fist and then he received the injury to his right eyebrow when his head was pushed into the floor," the judge said.
"How the injuries occurred and in what sequence of events is more likely than not to be in the manner consistent with Malcolm Ryder's evidence.
"That is, Rolfe deliberately banged his head into the floor as he was being turned over to be handcuffed."
Constable Rolfe's barrister did not want Ryder case made public
In dismissing the charges against Mr Ryder, the judge said he was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Ryder had done anything in the four seconds he was in the rear bedroom that hindered police.
The judge said he was also not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Ryder punched Constable Rolfe, nor that he attempted to scratch the officer in the face.
The judge noted Mr Ryder's stepson was never ultimately charged in relation to the alleged domestic disturbance that prompted police to attend the property in the first place.
The ABC requested a response from Constable Rolfe's legal team but is yet to hear back.
During a hearing in the Supreme Court on Friday, defence barrister David Edwardson QC unsuccessfully called for the non-publication order relating to the Ryder case to remain in place.
He said Judge Borchers' comments were not a "finding" against his client, and were no more than part of the "reasoning process in determining the outcome of a criminal trial".
The ABC also put several questions to NT Police about Judge Borchers' judgement, but it said it does not comment on individual matters.
