Fisticuffs can end in death but it’s not always manslaughter, according to the lawyer of a man defending a charge he caused his friend’s death.

Nathan Moscrip, 29, a logger from Hastings, has admitted punching his friend Brodie Ruatara from Taupō on August 12, 2023, but he said Ruatara fell during their struggle and hit his head on the concrete footpath.

Ruatara didn’t get treatment for his head injury, went to bed that night with his girlfriend in Kinloch and was found dead the next morning.

Moscrip is on trial in the High Court at Rotorua after pleading not guilty to the manslaughter of Ruatara.

Nathan Moscrip is on trial for manslaughter in the High Court at Rotorua. Photo / NZME

It is the Crown’s case Moscrip punched Ruatara first, striking him in the left temple causing Ruatara to stumble backwards.

The Crown says a fight continued, with Moscrip on top of Ruatara when he delivered at least three blows to Ruatara’s head before an associate intervened and pulled him away with a “bear hug”.

It is Moscrip’s defence he was defending himself after Ruatara had confronted him angrily looking for a fight over what he thought were messages to his girlfriend about going to hot pools.

Moscrip’s lawyer, Ron Mansfield KC, told the jury during his opening address on Friday it was cases such as this that showed how dangerous fighting and punching could be.

He said normally those in “fisticuffs” would get off the ground, “dust themselves off” and eventually get over it. But he said with one action sadly things could go wrong.

He said if someone fell awkwardly and hit their head and died, that didn’t make the other person criminally culpable.

Mansfield said Ruatara had been drinking and using methamphetamine and in that state wrongly believed something was happening with Moscrip and his girlfriend. He described Ruatara as being “whipped up”.

Mansfield said it didn’t matter who hit who first because it was clear violence was going to take place and therefore Moscrip was defending himself.

“He is entitled to use violence to prevent himself from being the victim of a punch.”

Mansfield reminded the jury Ruatara and Moscrip were friends — they once lived together — and it was hoped they could have had a “talk over a Nescafe” the next day to sort things out.

“But neither of these two men had that opportunity ... No one knew, not even Brodie, how seriously injured he was that night.”

Moscrip elected to give evidence and told the jury Ruatara swung at him first and missed. He said he then gave Ruatara “just a jab” to the head before they came together fighting and eventually fell to the ground.

He said he couldn’t remember how many times he punched Ruatara when he was on the ground but thought it was likely to be once.

He said he messaged Ruatara’s girlfriend that night after the fight asking how Ruatara’s head was.

He said he cried when he heard the next morning Ruatara had died.

Under cross-examination by Crown prosecutor Anna McConachy, Moscrip denied he was trying to play down his actions.

She put to Moscrip he was delivering punches at force, as had been described by two Crown witnesses. She said the force was so great, one of the witnesses, Gregory Tew, had to step in and stop it.

Moscrip said he wasn’t punching Ruatara at maximum force.

McConachy suggested to Moscrip it would be difficult for Ruatara to lie on his back and punch upwards. She also suggested the fall to the ground wouldn’t have caused the fatal injuries, which she said the pathologist described as being caused by “accelerated force”.

“When you slip over, you don’t generally slam the back of your head to the ground.”

Moscrip disagreed with McConachy.

She also raised with Moscrip a Snapchat message he sent his sister about an hour after the fight. The message was produced by Crown earlier in its case as evidence. In the message Moscrip told his sister Ruatara turned up “with attitude” so he had to “smack him around a bit”.

McConachy suggested to Moscrip the message didn’t suggest Moscrip was reacting in self-defence

“What you said to your sister was well before Brodie’s death, was before this court case and well before you had to give evidence at trial. You never imagined of course that text message was going to be pulled up in the High Court did you? ... So what you told your sister was simply the truth wasn’t it?”

Moscrip said no.

McConachy said: “Why did you lie to your sister?”

Moscrip said he didn’t.

McConachy put to Moscrip there were various options available to him that night to get out of the situation without fighting.

“At any time you could have simply walked away ... You weren’t defending yourself were you?”

Moscrip disagreed.

Both lawyers are expected to close their cases to the jury of five women and seven men today. Justice Helen McQueen is presiding.