DJ thought man was knocked out
A tussle between two men lasted seconds before one of them fell to the floor, and later died, at a birthday party in Invercargill last year, the High Court at Invercargill has heard.
Nathan Graeme Hall was charged with the manslaughter of Chanel Henwood, also known as Chanel Lee Simmonds, on February 10, 2018.
The trial began on Monday before Justice David Gendall and a jury.
The defence’s case is that Hall acted in self-defence.
Yesterday, Crown witness Robyn Ronald described the tussle as a ‘‘messy fight’’, with Henwood and Hall close together before she saw a punch come up from Hall’s right hand.
She did not know if the punch connected and told the court she did not see the incident in its entirety.
Her husband, Dean, told the court he believed the entire fracas between the two men lasted seconds.
Witnesses yesterday said Henwood was intoxicated at the party, stumbling and being obnoxious. He had been smoking inside the Marist Rugby Club, where the private function was held, despite being asked not to.
They said Hall appeared to be calm during the party and was not displaying any unusual behaviour.
Richard McKay, who was the disc jockey at the party, said when he first looked at Henwood on the ground he thought he had been knocked out.
McKay, a Crown witness, did not see what started the incident between Hall and Henwood or any exchange they had.
He told the court he had heard Serina Pollard yell out ‘‘Nath’’, after which he left his DJ position and crossed the dance floor to where people had gathered and he saw Henwood on the ground, face up.
Henwood was transported to Southland Hospital and CPR was undertaken en route. He was pronounced dead at 12.30am.
An autopsy report found Henwood had received a tear in a major artery in the brain that resulted in sudden blood loss to the brain stem, the court was told on the first day of the trial.