On the lawns across the road from the Alice Springs Local Court, the crowd of Yapa, or Warlpiri people, watching the coronial inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker was smaller than it was last year.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name and image of a person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
Every day for three months at the end of 2022, members of the Warlpiri-Luritja man's family gathered on the grass, listening to a live stream of lawyers arguing about the life and death of their 19-year-old loved one.
From September to December, they pitched a tent in the morning and packed it down in the afternoon, made teas, coffees and lunches in the shade, instructed their lawyers on the grass during brief court breaks, and listened to every piece of evidence the coroner uncovered about the 2019 police shooting that tore their community of Yuendumu apart.
But when they returned to do the same thing for two more weeks in 2023, they were exhausted.
The court hearings were supposed to be over by now.
The smaller crowd that gathered was no less passionate though. Fewer people didn't mean the impact of Kumanjayi Walker's death had diminished.
"It wasn't just us that we were grieving, it was all of us," said Jean Brown, a grandmother of Kumanjayi Walker.
One of the most prominent figures in the Justice for Walker campaign, his cousin Samara Fernandez-Brown said the ongoing court proceedings were frustrating for Warlpiri people.
"The process just keeps extending and extending, and all of it is out of our control," she said.
"It's hard because we can't have everybody here, as much as we would love to.
"It looks like it's just a small number of us here, but we're representing everybody."
Inside the courtroom, the bar tables had thinned out too, with fewer barristers returning for the second block of hearings.
As more than 15 familiar lawyers — and the same two journalists — took their seats in the coroner's court, it was as if the three-month break between hearings had not happened.
For most people, it hadn't really.
Even without NT Coroner Elisabeth Armitage on the bench, the work to put together each tiny piece of the puzzle that was the shooting in Yuendumu on November 9, 2019, had continued.
And after Constable Zachary Rolfe's lawyers filed a Supreme Court appeal in January, work on a secondary, and complicated, legal battle picked up.
At the beginning of the inquest in September last year, Judge Armitage told the court: "I am inviting everyone to look a little deeper and listen a little longer, because I think there is more to learn from, and more to try to understand, about this story."
And so her inquiry delved deeper than the night of the shooting, as she tried to understand the stories of Kumanjayi Walker and Constable Rolfe, as well as that of the Yuendumu community and the Northern Territory police force.
The police apology
Kumanjayi Walker was fatally shot by Constable Zachary Rolfe on November 9, 2019, in the remote Indigenous community of Yuendumu, about 300 kilometres from Alice Springs.
Nineteen-year-old Mr Walker, who had threatened other police with an axe two days earlier, had stabbed Constable Rolfe in the shoulder with a pair of scissors as he attempted to arrest him.
Those facts have never been in dispute, through three years of criminal and coronial hearings.
Constable Rolfe was acquitted of all criminal charges after a five-week Supreme Court trial in early 2022, where he argued he acted in self-defence, in defence of his policing partner and in the reasonable performance of his duties.
When the second-highest ranking police officer in the Northern Territory took the stand last week, over five gruelling days, he opened his evidence with a long-awaited apology to the family of Mr Walker.
"We are sorry for Kumanjayi's passing and for the circumstances of his passing. We are sorry too for the distrust caused by not promptly informing his family and the community of his death," NT Police Deputy Commissioner Murray Smalpage said.
"We apologise to the health personnel involved … We apologise for the manner in which Kumanjayi's family members were informed of his passing … We apologise that Kumanjayi's transfer to the police vehicle consisted of dragging … [and] we apologise for the carrying of long arms in Yuendumu."
It was a welcome acknowledgement for Mr Walker's family, that had been three years in the making.
"The apology was really important, but I think the acceptance of that apology is only really going to come if things are changing and if there are changes that are going to keep Yapa safe," Ms Fernandez-Brown said.
Meanwhile, the inquest heard that for Constable Rolfe, three years without an acknowledgement, or welfare check from his superiors had become a "very significant issue".
"I can understand how he sees it, but the reality is with all of the legal proceedings that were underway, we received numerous directives from the union, from the lawyers not to contact him. Don't ring him," Deputy Commissioner Smalpage said.
The deputy commissioner spent days listing the "cultural reforms" the NT Police Force had made in the past three years, refuting allegations of systemic racism within the ranks, while acknowledging there was work to do to rebuild trust in remote communities.
He stood by the decision of police in Yuendumu on the night of the shooting not to let Mr Walker's family be with him as police tried to save his life, and stood firm on police carrying guns and using dogs in their frontline duties.
Officer discipline in the spotlight
Much of the evidence before the coroner about the disciplinary processes of police officers was specific to Constable Rolfe's use-of-force reports and multiple reminders to turn on his body-worn camera as a young constable.
But when Assistant Police Commissioner Bruce Porter, whose portfolio includes the Professional Standards Command, was called to give evidence, many of the questions put to him were about the general supervision of inexperienced officers and their supervisors' responsibility to reign in concerning behaviour.
The coroner heard that in the four months before Mr Walker died, "nothing of substance [was] done, to advise Constable Rolfe in relation to his behaviours", after a handful of complaints had been made against him.
"All sorts of things that would have related to advice, support, oversight, review, that were not done by police during that four-month period. That is a significant failing, isn't it?" Counsel Assisting the Coroner, Peggy Dwyer, asked.
"Yes, I believe so," Assistant Commissioner Porter said.
"Are you confident, that with the reforms that have been implemented by Northern Territory Police after Kumanjayi's passing, the same situation wouldn't happen?" Dr Dwyer asked.
"No, I'm not confident with what we've put in place at the moment, but with the things that we're putting in place to complement it, I fully have confidence that we will have mechanisms in place … to mitigate any such occurrence re-occurring," Assistant Commissioner Porter said.
Assistant Commissioner Porter also agreed that oversight of investigations into complaints or allegations against police should be independent.
The future for Constable Rolfe
On the NT Police payroll, but stood down from duties, Constable Rolfe's future with the force is up in the air.
The inquest heard the officer had been informed by Assistant Commissioner Porter that he intended to "medically retire" him.
"I formed the opinion that he had the inability to continue as a member of the police force," Assistant Commissioner Porter said.
He has also been issued a section 79 – disciplinary notice – for speaking out publicly about the inquest.
The coroner heard that Constable Rolfe had already been on a "good behaviour" agreement with the force, after previous media interviews in the wake of his criminal trial last year.
But the officer maintained, in his public statement, that he "loved being a cop" – so it remains unclear whether Constable Rolfe will continue to fight to stay in the job.
The Supreme Court appeal
The NT Court of Appeal will sit in Darwin on April 11 to hear Constable Rolfe's appeal of a decision, which compels him to give evidence to the coroner.
The officer will argue he has a right to claim a "penalty privilege" and shouldn't be forced to answer questions, which could lead to disciplinary action within the police.
Once the full bench hands down its decision, it will still be open for any of the parties involved – including Constable Rolfe, the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA), the NT Attorney-General or the NT Police Force – to further appeal to the High Court of Australia.
If that happens, the inquest proceedings could be delayed well into 2024.
If it doesn't, Constable Rolfe will likely be recalled by the coroner to give evidence at the next block of inquest hearings in Alice Springs, in July this year.
Throughout the months of inquest hearings so far, the Alice Springs Local Court has perhaps provided the best display of the two worlds the NT coroner is trying to explore.
Inside, lawyers have been arguing about their western law, calling witnesses to the stand, making objections and applications to the coroner.
Meanwhile, on the grass outside, in the fresh air, Yapa have been listening and working to make sure their voices are heard – and hoping, whenever it finally ends, that no other community ever has to do the same.
