A man who died shortly after being bashed by his friend over money and relationship disputes could have sustained his fatal injury from another source, a defence lawyer has argued.
Alan William Delaney, 53, has been on trial in the NSW Supreme Court in Queanbeyan after pleading not guilty to murder, alleged to have happened under Queens Bridge on Boxing Day 2019.
The trial heard that the bashing was the result of Mr Delaney seeking the deceased, Aaron Baxter, whom he accused of wrongdoing against him, including stealing money and interfering with his relationship.
After Mr Delaney left the scene, Mr Baxter was taken to Queanbeyan District Hospital but died about two hours later.
An autopsy showed Mr Baxter died from internal bleeding from a ruptured spleen after his ribs were fractured.
The prosecution case against him is that he intended to kill or cause serious harm and that the bashing, including punching and kneeing, was the substantial cause of Mr Baxter's death.
In his closing address, defence lawyer Duncan Berents challenged the intention and causation.
Mr Berents said there was a credible explanation of Mr Delaney's state of mind, which was not to kill but to give Mr Baxter a warning, which he said was consistent with the medically identifiable marks on the deceased.
Mr Berents cited what his client told police in an interview, including that he "just wanted to smack him in the mouth" and "I didn't want to belt him, it just happened".
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The trial heard that Mr Baxter had a medical history of falls and experienced at least two falls unrelated to but around the same time as the assault.
Mr Berents said there was a reasonable possibility that an unrelated fall could have been the major cause of Mr Baxter's fatal injury, which a medical expert gave supporting evidence.
Mr Berents dismissed the argument that his client tried to minimise his actions.
"He admitted he shouldn't have done it. He admitted he was angry. He admitted afterwards that he was carrying on," Mr Berents said.
He also said that Mr Delaney bursting into tears and saying "please tell me this is a bad dream" was genuine and that the accused accepted responsibility for the assault
Crown prosecutor Nerissa Keay delivered her closing address on Thursday when she told jurors to look at Mr Delaney's messages to his partner before the assault and his boasting on social media afterwards.
"The last message before the assault was particularly telling: 'now I'm going to snap'. That's exactly what he did," she said.
Justice Desmond Fagan also gave the jury legal directions about manslaughter if they find murder is not proven.
The jury began deliberations on Friday afternoon and will continue next week.
