Victim's aneurysm complicates Sydney murder trial - Sydney Morning Herald

A Sydney man has denied charges of murder over a drunken fight in which he allegedly punched and stomped on a man who had a potentially fatal, hidden brain defect.

The NSW Supreme Court heard on Tuesday that Adam Matthews and Scott Miller were fighting after a night of drinking in Darlinghurst on February 19, 2011, when Mr Miller suddenly fell backwards from a blow to the jaw and struck his head on a pedestrian railing.

In his opening address to the jury, Crown Prosecutor, Trevor Bailey, said witnesses then saw Matthews stomp on the prone man's head with his thonged feet before retreating to a nearby alley.

The jury heard that it appeared Mr Miller had been unconscious before his head hit the ground, and that a pathologist later determined this was probably because the punch had caused a hidden "berry aneurysm" in the back of Mr Miller's brain to haemorrhage. This, the pathologist found, was the most likely cause of death.

Matthews' barrister, Nathan Steel, told the court that his client had no idea about Mr Miller's subdural aneurysm and that the man's death was the result of an "unexpected and unfortunate event".

"This is far different to any murder case that you might read about or hear about," Mr Steel said.

"Mr Matthews didn't know that a punch to the jaw would cause this aneurysm to burst and he didn't know that this would result in Scott Miller dying."

But the Crown prosecutor said that it "doesn't matter that the aneurysm was there".

He said Matthews had started the fight and then punched and stomped on his foe with the intent to either kill him or cause him "serious bodily injury", and that he was therefore guilty of murder.

"If you find that the accused punched Mr Miller and then at stomp stage delivered a number of stomps to his head does that indicate that he intended to do really serious bodily harm? The Crown intends you to find just that."

But Mr Steel said Matthews had not intended to kill or seriously injure Mr Miller.

"Punches to the face do happen all the time when people are fighting," he said.

"When people punch someone to the jaw or the face in that situation they're not intending to kill them or cause serious bodily harm."

The trial, before Justice Jane Mathews, continues.