An inquest into an Indigenous teen’s shooting death is expected to resume after a legal fight over the coroner’s power to force witnesses to give evidence.

November 25, 2022

An inquest into the death of an Indigenous teenager shot dead by a Northern Territory policeman is expected to resume after a legal fight over the coroner’s power to force witnesses to give evidence.

Constable Zachary Rolfe shot Kumanjayi Walker, 19, three times during a bungled outback arrest in Yuendumu, northwest of Alice Springs, on November 9, 2019.

An inquest into the Walpiri man’s death was paused earlier this week amid a Supreme Court legal stoush over whether the 31-year-old has the legal right to refuse to provide evidence to the coroner and the court’s ability to compel him to do so.

Coroner Elisabeth Armitage previously determined that witnesses cannot decline to answer questions by invoking the penalty privilege, which Const Rolfe did when appeared at the inquest last week.

She said penalty privilege was extinguished by the NT Coroner’s Act Section 38, which allows the coroner to compel a witness to give evidence that could incriminate them and for the provision of an immunity certificate from prosecution after doing so.

Const Rolfe’s legal team says the certificate won’t protect him from internal police disciplinary proceedings potentially stemming from his evidence and Section 38 does not abolish penalty privilege and it remains available to their client as a common law right.

Const Rolfe was found not guilty in March of murdering Mr Walker. The Indigenous man’s grieving community was outraged over the verdict and said it hoped the coronial inquest would bring justice.

He was temporarily stood down last week from giving evidence until the Supreme Court ruling was handed down.

If Justice Judith Kelly finds Judge Armitage’s ruling was correct, the coroner will be able to compel him to answer uncomfortable questions about racist text messages that the inquest has heard he allegedly sent.

Const Rolfe is also likely to be asked about the night he killed Mr Walker and his alleged misuse of police body-worn cameras, excessive use of force and falsified NT police recruitment application.

Justice Kelly reserved her decision and said she would endeavour to provide a judgement within two weeks, noting the urgency of the case.

The inquest resumes on Friday with Commander David Proctor, the police officer in charge of the coronial investigation, scheduled to give evidence.