The prosecution has begun its closing address in the murder trial of Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe, telling the jury the accused intended to kill or cause serious harm when he fatally shot Kumanjayi Walker three times during an attempted arrest.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains an image of a person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
Constable Rolfe, 30, fired his Glock pistol moments after the 19-year-old stabbed him in the shoulder with a pair of medical scissors inside a house in Yuendumu in November 2019.
Constable Rolfe has pleaded not guilty to murder, as well as to two alternative charges, in relation to the second and third shots, which the prosecution says were not legally justified.
The first shot is not the subject of any charges.
On Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Philip Strickland SC told the jury that to find Constable Rolfe guilty of murder, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the officer intentionally engaged in conduct that caused Mr Walker's death, and that he intended to cause death or serious harm.
Mr Strickland said Constable Rolfe himself had told the court that he knew that firing the second and third shots at close range would likely cause such consequences.
"We say from that, together with the facts of the case, you can conclude that that was his intention: to kill or cause serious harm," Mr Strickland said.
Fatal shots were not reasonable, Crown says
Mr Strickland said the Crown also needed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Constable Rolfe had no legal defence to justify his actions.
In arguing his case, he told the jury Constable Rolfe's colleague had "effectively restrained" Mr Walker on the ground by the time the second and third shots were fired.
He also said Constable Rolfe did not hold an honest belief that it was necessary to fire the second and third shots, and that the shots were not a reasonable response in the circumstances as he perceived them.
Mr Strickland told the jury Constable Rolfe did not see Mr Walker stabbing Constable Eberl, as he had claimed, and therefore did not fear for his colleague's life.
"And the accused lied to justify the unjustifiable: namely the fatal shooting of Kumanjayi Walker."
Constable Rolfe has denied Mr Strickland's claims about his evidence.
Mr Strickland also said the shooting needed to be seen within a broader context that explained Constable Rolfe's state of mind at the time of the shooting.
He said the officer's career history — including a deployment with the army to Afghanistan, applications to join the Commandos and Special Air Service and private weapons tuition in the United States — showed an "obvious desire to become involved in direct action."
The prosecutor said Constable Rolfe took an "active interest" in Mr Walker after repeatedly viewing body-worn footage of an incident in which Mr Walker threatened Yuendumu officers with an axe three days before the shooting.
Mr Strickland told the jury that when Constable Rolfe arrived in Yuendumu — as part of a specialist police unit sent Alice Springs — he paid "no attention" to the local sergeant's preference to arrest Mr Walker early the following morning.
"[Constable Rolfe's] sole mission and preoccupation was to arrest [Mr Walker] as soon as he could," he said.
The prosecutor said that after leaving the Yuendumu police station, Constable Rolfe went against his training and deactivated a safety device on his holster while searching for Mr Walker in the house where the axe incident occurred.
"It was clear that he released the retention device because he intended to draw his firearm if he came across Kumanjayi Walker," Mr Strickland said.
He said the combination of evidence put before the court provided the jury with evidence of Constable Rolfe's "mentality" in the lead up to the shooting.
The defence is yet to give its closing statements to the court, which will take place after the prosecution finishes its address in court on Wednesday.
Ex-AFP officer says Rolfe's actions were in line with training
Earlier on Tuesday, the defence team called former Australian Federal Police (AFP) officer Ben McDevitt as its final witness.
Mr McDevitt, who now acts as a consultant, was previously the AFP's chief firearms and defensive skills instructor.
He told the court that when the second and third shots were fired, Constable Eberl and Mr Walker were still involved in an "extremely active struggle" on the mattress.
He said at that stage, the threat to Constable Eberl was a "far more dangerous and dire situation" than when the first shot was fired when he and Mr Walker were standing.
Mr McDevitt said that was because Constable Eberl was no longer able to use his legs to create distance between himself and Mr Walker and nor was he able to kick or knee him.
He described as "ludicrous" the evidence of senior NT police officer Andrew Barram, who previously told the court that Constable Rolfe should have used "empty-hands" tactics after the first shot.
Mr McDevitt told the court there was nothing Constable Rolfe did in Yuendumu that was inconsistent with his training.
However, under cross-examination from the prosecution, he agreed that constables Rolfe and Eberl made several "tactical errors" when they entered the house where Mr Walker was shot.
He said these included not having a clear plan of action and not instructing other officers that an unknown male person was inside the house.
The trial will continue on Wednesday, with the second reserve jury member empanelled in place of a juror discharged earlier on Tuesday because of close contact with a COVID case.
