A young man has pleaded not guilty to murdering another following an alleged hallway wrestle inside serviced apartments in Sydney's CBD.
Connor Godfrey, 21, is charged with murdering Giuseppe Pagano after the 43-year-old died at the Haymarket apartment building in the early hours of Easter Sunday in April 2021.
Justice Robert Allan Hulme in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday queried why the trial was estimated to take up to four weeks.
Defence lawyer Mike Smith said self-defence would be an issue at trial, with two experts to be called.
He confirmed it had something to do with a "martial-arts chokehold".
Following the scuffle, the apartment residents told police they heard a "melee" or "wrestle" taking place in the hallway outside their doors on the 13th floor of the Castlereagh Street building.
It is believed the men were in one of the apartments before their alleged altercation spilled into the hallway.
Godfrey is due to stand trial on March 20, 2023.
