DPP and Police Commissioner knew witnesses in Rolfe murder trial were unreliable, used them anyway: Secret internal report
EXCLUSIVE: Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker and the DPP were aware the star witness at the murder trial of Constable Zach Rolfe had his integrity “compromised” by investigators, had involved himself in the investigation due to “pressure” exerted by unknown parties and was found not to understand the law around use of force, but they put him on the stand at the jury trial anyway, according to an internal coronial report Mr Chalker attempted to suppress ahead of the trial.
Fatal Failures: Rolfe should not have been in the IRT, ‘likely’ would not have been recruited if truthful in application, report shows
EXCLUSIVE: Constable Zach Rolfe would not have been recruited into the police force if he had been honest about his military disciplinary history, and the impact of undisclosed medication he was taking for a “psychiatric condition” in the months before shooting and killing Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu will never be known, a draft coronial report prepared by the NT Police states.
Fatal Failures: Bombshell NT Police internal document reveals massive failures in shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker
EXCLUSIVE: A draft coronial report prepared by the NT Police and obtained by the NT Independent has revealed the shocking extent of police failures in the hours before the shooting death of Yuendumu man Kumanjayi Walker in November 2019, including that two of the senior officers in charge of deploying the taskforce that raided his home did not understand how the Immediate Response Team functioned nor how it should be deployed.
Behind the scenes in the days leading up to Gunner’s sudden resignation
ANALYSIS: The scandal engulfing Michael Gunner in the days leading up to his resignation goes to the heart of the NT’s democracy, reaching not only into the highest political office in the Territory, but also directly into the highest office in the public service.
ICAC has ‘no responsibility for failures’ in police Rolfe investigation: ICAC Inspector backflips on independent oversight commitment
The Office of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption did not provide promised oversight of the NT Police’s flawed investigation into the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker despite being directly requested to do so by Aboriginal elders in Yuendumu, and publicly claiming that it would, the NT Independent can reveal.
Expert in Rolfe committal hearing dropped by prosecution before murder trial
Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker and the Director of Public Prosecutions have refused to explain why an American use-of-force expert paid by police who provided evidence against Constable Zach Rolfe was used at the committal hearing but not during the Supreme Court murder trial.
‘This is a murder charge, the less conflicts the better’: Internal police emails show prosecution’s star witness at Rolfe trial had ‘conflict of interest’
EXCLUSIVE: The top cop in charge of overseeing complaints about NT Police investigations had warned officers building the murder case against Constable Zach Rolfe that their use of force “expert” Snr Sgt Andrew Barram was “not suitable” to provide evidence due to a “conflict of interest”, internal police emails obtained by the NT Independent show.
Analysis: Public inquiry into Walker-Rolfe affair needed as ICAC office implicated too
ANALYSIS: In a respectable jurisdiction, those in positions of public trust currently under investigation for the decision to charge Constable Zach Rolfe would realise they are only caretakers of those crucial positions and stand aside while the investigation is underway. But not in the NT, as we grapple with a confusing and hopelessly compromised situation.
Chalker involved every day after Walker’s death leading up to Rolfe’s charging, documents show
Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker and other executives gave instructions for Constable Zach Rolfe to be charged in Darwin if any charges were to proceed, police notes show, marking the fifth instance of documented evidence showing the top cop’s involvement across all four days following the Yuendumu shooting and further contradicting Mr Chalker’s claim he was not involved in the process to charge.
DPP recommended Rolfe murder charge in 90-minute ‘unfinished brief of evidence’ meeting
The Director of Public Prosecutions took no longer than 90 minutes to recommend a murder charge for Constable Zachary Rolfe after being provided an unfinished brief of evidence, in a meeting held just before Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker and other executives decided to arrest and charge the officer, police diary notes reveal.