Judge said Northern Territory's Supreme Court decision was "erroneous"
Shooting - and eventually killing - an arrestee "in good faith" is not enough reason for a policeman to avoid civil and criminal liability. This is the ruling of the High Court on the defence of Constable Zachary Rolfe, who is facing a murder charge for shooting Kumanjayi Walker three times in November 2019. Walker was shot by the policeman during an attempted arrest at the victim's family home in the central Australian Indigenous township of Yuendumu, Independent reported.
While Walker managed to stab Rolfe with a pair of scissors during the struggle, prosecutors who charged the police with murder alleged that the officer's second and third shots were unnecessary. Rolfe is attempting to use an immunity clause under the Northern Territory's Police Administration Act, which protects an officer from civil and criminal liability if the police’s actions were done in "good faith."
The Territory's Supreme Court ruled in favour of Rolfe using the immunity clause to escape murder charges - but the High Court made a different decision.
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"The common law and statutory powers are subject to constraints, such as doing only that which is reasonable and necessary," said the High Court as quoted by The Guardian.
It said that the NT's Supreme Court decision was "overboard and erroneous" that needed correction, but it later clarified that the High Court would not do such thing in every case. With the ruling on the immunity clause done, the case would be brought back to the NT's Supreme Couty next week, with a trial scheduled for February.
Rolfe has pleaded not guilty for the murder charge. If declared guilty, he would be the first police officer in Australia to be convicted of unlawfully killing an Indigenous person. This also puts him at risk of lifetime imprisonment.
Currently, Rolfe is out on bail and is out of duty after the Northern Territory suspended him with pay. He is currently with his parents in Canberra.
