The murder trial of Northern Territory police officer Zach Rolfe will rest on whether two of the three shots he fired at Yuendumu teenager Kumanjayi Walker were legally justified, the NT Supreme Court has heard.
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 is standing trial for the alleged murder of Mr Walker, 19, who was fatally shot during an attempted arrest in the remote community north-west of Alice Springs in November 9, 2019.
The jury was selected on Monday morning on the first day of a trial that is expected to run for four weeks.
Constable Rolfe has pleaded not guilty to murder as well as the alternative charges of manslaughter and engaging in a violent act causing death.
According to an opening statement from prosecutors, officers from a police unit known as the Immediate Response Team (IRT) had entered a home in the community and were trying to arrest Mr Walker when the teenager brandished a pair of medical scissors and began to struggle against one of Constable Rolfe's colleagues.
Crown prosecutor Philip Strickland SC told the court that Constable Rolfe then fired a semi-automatic glock pistol at the teenager from a distance of about a metre, striking the middle region of the teenager's back.
"That first shot did not kill Mr Walker. That first shot is not the subject of the charges before you," Mr Strickland SC told the jury.
Mr Strickland said the teenager was being restrained on the ground when Constable Rolfe, standing over him, fired a second bullet into the left side of his torso about two-and-a-half seconds later.
A third shot, about half a second later, was fired "point blank against the mid region of Kumanjayi Walker," Mr Strickland SC said.
"This rapid discharge of shots with a semi-automatic gun is sometimes called a double tap in police and military circles, and the double tap is designed to ensure maximum injury or death."
Mr Strickland SC said he expected the central issue for the jury to consider at the end of the trial would be "whether the accused's conduct was legally justified."
The prosecution told the court they expect Constable Rolfe's legal team to put forward three defences, including that Constable Rolfe was acting out of self-defence and that the 30-year-old was acting reasonably in the course of his duties.
Prosecutors began to outline the context in which the shooting took place, beginning with Mr Walker's breach of a court order when he removed an electric monitoring device and left an alcohol rehabilitation centre in Alice Springs about a week before the shooting.
He then travelled to Yuendumu, where he intended to attend the funeral of a great-uncle.
The court heard two police officers based in the community visited a house where Mr Walker lived with his partner on Wednesday, November 6, to execute an arrest warrant, but their attempt ended after Mr Walker armed himself with an axe.
Sergeant Julie Frost, another local officer, eventually negotiated for Mr Walker to turn himself in to police after the funeral.
IRT members had searched for Mr Walker around Alice Springs and the town camp where his adoptive mother lived in the days leading up to their journey to Yuendumu to make a second arrest attempt, prosecutors said.
Mr Strickland SC said Constable Rolfe, who had joined NT Police in 2016, at that point had "extensive experience in handling firearms and weapons, but he had limited experience performing police duties in a remote Indigenous community such as Yuendumu."
The court adjourned after sitting for three hours on Monday, an arrangement that will continue throughout the trial to minimise the risk of COVID infections.
The court heard up to 60 witnesses could be called over the course of the trial.
The trial will continue on Tuesday, when prosecution teams conclude their opening statement and the defence team will have an opportunity to put an outline of their case forward.
