Michael Meakin had 21 schooners of full-strength beer under his belt when he got into a fight with Nicholas McEvoy at a western Sydney pub late on a summer's night.
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Less than an hour later Mr McEvoy was dead on a nature strip, with a torn plastic bag wrapped around his left hand and beers scattered everywhere.
A woman driving past saw his body on the side of Richmond Road at Dean Park just after midnight on February 21, 2014.
She stopped and called triple-0 but by the time paramedics arrived Mr McEvoy had no pulse and was cold.
On Monday the NSW Supreme Court heard Mr McEvoy had been "deliberately" and "intentionally" mowed down by Mr Meakin, who was driving a white van.
During his opening address, Crown prosecutor Pat Barrett told a jury that Mr Meakin had intentionally sought to kill or seriously injure Mr McEvoy after the pair had "exchanged words" at the nearby Plumpton Hotel.
"There is a deal of significance in what happened earlier that night," Mr Barrett told the jury.
The court heard that Mr Meakin and Mr McEvoy argued over a game of pool before Mr Meakin threw a punch that missed.
As the deceased was being thrown out of the pub by security guards he yelled out at Mr Meakin words to the effect that he would "smash him".
Mr Barrett told the jury the accused then later went after the deceased in his white work van. After hitting him he drove off and did not hand himself in to police until the next day.
"Primarily we say the accused is guilty of murder," Mr Barrett said.
Mr Barrett said the results of an autopsy showed the deceased's injuries were consistent with being hit from behind.
He also argued the accused had mounted the footpath in order to strike Mr McEvoy.
But Mr Meakin's barrister Grant Brady SC told the court his client had accidentally hit the deceased while he was attempting to do a "drunken Maccas run" after leaving the Plumpton Hotel.
"The deceased either stepped or stumbled onto the road – it was impossible to avoid," Mr Brady said.
He said the fact that Mr Meakin and the deceased had argued earlier was simply a "coincidence".
"He had no idea that the person that was struck was the person he had a confrontation with at the [hotel]."
Mr Brady said his client did some "stupid things" that night, including driving while drunk and leaving the scene after he hit Mr McEvoy.
But he argued Mr Meakin had not struck the deceased intentionally.
The trial continues before Justice David Davies.
