A Northern Territory police officer accused of murdering an Indigenous man will have to wait until Thursday to learn if his trial will be delayed due to COVID.

July 20, 2021

A decision is expected on Thursday on whether a Northern Territory policeman’s trial for allegedly murdering an Indigenous man will be rescheduled due to COVID-19.

Constable Zachary Rolfe, 29, is accused of murdering Kumanjayi Walker, 19, who was shot three times during an arrest in the remote community of Yuendumu in November 2019.

He’s supposed to stand trial in the NT Supreme Court on Monday but much of the Crown’s interstate prosecution team can’t get into the territory without quarantining for a fortnight.

They’re understood to be in NSW where 78 new local Delta variant cases were recorded on Tuesday and a lockdown in Greater Sydney continues.

A week-long pre-trial hearing is being held using an audio-visual link so prosecutors Philip Strickland SC and Sophie Callan SC can appear.

Whether they can make it to Darwin for the first day of the trial next week remains unclear.

The situation was expected to become clearer on Monday. However, the pre-trial hearing was closed to the public and media.

Acting Justice Dean Mildren has since said a decision about whether the trial will proceed won’t be made until Thursday.

Mr Strickland applied on June 24 for an exemption to travel to Darwin but a courts’ spokesman told AAP there had been no confirmation it had been granted.

Rolfe has attended court this week after returning to the NT from Canberra, where he had been granted bail to live while he awaited trial.

The trial is expected to run for four weeks in Darwin.