Man accused of delivering single, fatal blow to 'innocent bystander' at Auckland house party

Carlos Pula appears for jury trial at Auckland High Court for the manslaughter of Reginald Sharma. Photo / NZ Herald

A man is accused of delivering a single, fatal blow to an innocent bystander at an Auckland house party, a jury has been told.

Carlos Pula, 23, is on trial in the High Court at Auckland charged with the manslaughter of 25-year-old Reginald Sharma at a Mt Roskill home last August.

A jury of six men and six women were this morning selected.

In her opening statements, Crown prosecutor Fiona Culliney said on the night of August 19, Pula got "really drunk" at a 21st birthday party at a Haughey Ave address.

"After hours of solid drinking, he decided to hit a completely innocent man in the face," she said.

Pula allegedly upper cut Sharma on the left side of his face, causing an artery to split at the back of his head, resulting in a brain bleed and his death.

The Crown argued Sharma had been "minding his own business" and didn't provoke him in any way prior to the attack.

Culliney said Sharma was "an absolutely innocent bystander" and the accused had taken out his anger on him for no reason whatsoever after being involved in a fight just minutes earlier at the property.

The Crown said two people at the party who witnessed the blow, one of whom was sober, will be called to give evidence.

Pula's defence lawyer, Mark Edgar, told the jury the events of the night started at the Gemini bar in Otahuhu and ended up at Haughey Ave, involving a number of people drinking.

Edgar boiled down the defence case to two main issues. The first being the credibility and reliability of the witnesses set to be called.

The second issue is focused on medical evidence.

"Pula cannot make a fist despite what the Crown might say," Edgar said.