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The Northern Territory coroner has ruled that messages downloaded from Constable Zachary Rolfe’s mobile phone after he was arrested and charged with murder over the death of Kumanjayi Walker in 2019 could be “evidence of racism by Constable Rolfe” and his colleagues.
Key points:
- Constable Rolfe’s ex-fiancée is expected to be called as a witness
- “Disturbing” text messages from his phone are now expected to be examined by the coroner
- Coroner Elisabeth Armitage rejected attempts by Constable Rolfe’s lawyers to narrow the scope of her investigation
She also ruled that Constable Rolfe’s ex-fiancée, who made three statements to police about his conduct on the job, should be called to give evidence.
Coroner Elisabeth Armitage was asked to decide whether the two areas of evidence could be called at the coronial inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker after lawyers for Constable Rolfe launched an objection to the broad scope of the inquest.
The inquest is currently underway in Alice Springs and comes six months after Constable Rolfe was found not guilty of any offense in relation to Mr Walker’s death.
The ex-fiancé’s allegations were sent to court for the first time
The court heard Constable Rolfe’s ex-fiancée Claudia Campagnaro, who was also an Alice Springs-based police officer, made three statements to the Northern Territory Police detailing conversations she had with him about body-worn footage and the use of force.
In deciding that her evidence was relevant to the investigation, Armitage referred to parts of Ms Campagnaro’s statements, of which she told police:
“[Zachary Rolfe] would just off the cuff say words to the effect of, ‘If I shot somebody, I could go on six months vacation’.”
Ms Armitage ruled that some aspects of Ms Campagnaro’s evidence “may be said to suggest an over-readiness on the part of Constable Rolfe to draw and/or use a firearm.”
“Zak has previously talked about joining the SAS and said to me, ‘I like being a soldier, it was good money and they could go out and kill people’… He said this to me a couple of times ,” Ms. Campagnaro’s statement read. .
Constable Rolfe’s lawyers argued that Ms Campagnaro’s evidence was “not logically probative of any issue” relevant to the coroner and should not be called at the inquest.
In another section of her statement referred to in the coroner’s decision, Ms Campagnaro alleged that an Alice Springs patrol group was “known” to “have to justify the use of force.”
The coroner found Ms Campagnaro spoke to officers about the arrest of Indigenous man Malcolm Ryder, who Northern Territory Police have said Constable Rolfe will not face perjury charges.
“Zak has told me, ‘Thank God my body wasn’t on because everyone would have seen me knock Ryder to the floor,’” Ms Campagnaro’s statement read.
“When Zak told me about how he got his face scratched, he put words to it [of] ‘a female detective upstairs scratched me’.”
Ms Armitage found some of Ms Campagnaro’s evidence could suggest a “concerning culture” at Alice Springs police station and ruled her accounts were “relevant” to the investigation.
However, she also found that there “may well be significant issues” with Ms Campagnaro’s credibility and reliability.
Racism ‘may have played a role’ in the death
Ruling that some of the 8,000 pages of text messages downloaded from Constable Rolfe’s phone could be examined during the investigation, Ms Armitage wrote:
“I would not have investigated this case if there was no evidentiary basis to suggest that Constable Rolfe and other police officers with whom he communicated held racist views about Aboriginal people.”
She accepted arguments on behalf of Kumanjayi Walker’s family and others that the messages could be considered “prima facie evidence of racism” by Constable Rolfe and other police colleagues.
“I accept NAAJA’s contention that it is sufficient that this racism ‘may have played a role – knowingly or unknowingly – in the immediate acts causing the death or in the wider structures relating to IRT and its dissemination,’” the coroner wrote.
“The investigation will investigate whether this is actually the case.”
Constable Rolfe’s lawyer previously argued there was “no evidence” to suggest systemic racism was a factor in the shooting of Kumanjayi Walker.
“There is absolutely no evidence in the brief to suggest that Zachary Rolfe had any racial motivation at the time he pulled the trigger of his Glock on November 9, 2019,” said David Edwardson KC.
Lawyers for Constable Rolfe and the Northern Territory Police Association had argued the messages, sent between five and nine officers, were not relevant to the investigation and could not be evidence of a widespread attitude among NT police.
Constable Rolfe’s lawyer had also argued that the messages themselves were obtained illegally, but Ms Armitage ruled that would not prevent her from receiving them as evidence.
“Nothing in the Coroner’s Act expressly prohibits me from receiving and considering evidence that has been unlawfully obtained by another person,” Ms Armitage wrote.
No decision on a broad “scope” of investigations
Constable Rolfe’s lawyers had objected to around 13 of the 54 questions proposed to be examined throughout the coronial inquest.
Ms Armitage refused to comment on the overall scope of the inquiry, telling the court it was “premature and unnecessary” to limit the inquiry.
“At this early stage of this lengthy and complex investigation, it is impossible to know whether a number of the ‘questions’ or ‘issues’ expected to arise from the evidence of my Counsel Assisting team … will ultimately be relevant to or connected with , death,” Ms Armitage wrote.
The investigation is expected to continue on Wednesday, when the current sergeant in charge of Yuendumu police station will give evidence.
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