Oshae Jackson Tuiasau one-punch kill trial: Defence says punch not only factor in death
The defence for a former Keebra Park football prodigy charged with a one-punch kill after a night out at Surfers Paradise has told a trial anaphylaxis and cardiovascular disease also could have led to the man’s death.
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The defence for a former Keebra Park football prodigy charged with a one-punch kill after a night out at Surfers Paradise has told a trial anaphylaxis and cardiovascular disease also could have led to the man’s death.
Griffin man Oshae Jackson Tuiasau, 30, has pleaded not guilty to unlawful striking causing the death of New South Wales man Toro George, 39.
The trial continued in Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday with evidence on Mr George’s cause of death.
The court was previously told Mr George died of an hypoxic-ischemic brain injury – the brain being starved of blood-flow and oxygen – after going into cardiac arrest shortly after the punch was delivered at about 3.50am on December 19, 2021.
One of the defences being advanced by Mr Tuisasau’s lawyers is that the cardiac arrest an d subsequent brain injury was unrelated to the punch.
The court was previously told Mr George was overweight, had taken cocaine on the night, had coronary heart disease blocking 60-80 per cent of one of his ventricles, and had a blood-alcohol content of 0.246 per cent when he died.
Gold Coast University Hospital-based forensic pathologist Dr Melissa Thompson told the trial her firm opinion was that Mr George entered cardiac arrest because of a concussive shock to his medulla oblongata, the part that connects the spinal cord to the brain.
She said this most likely occurred because of Mr George’s head striking the pavement, as the forensic evidence indicated Mr Tuiasau’s punch was only delivered with “mild to moderate” force.
Defence counsel Craig Eberhardt KC pointed out that two police officers who were first on scene after the punch were captured on body-worn camera commenting on Mr George’s swollen tongue, raising the possibility of anaphylaxis.
Dr Thompson said she did not consider that plausible as none of his friends reported Mr George having breathing difficulties prior to the punch – which ought to have been the case if he were anaphylactic – and none of the clinicians who treated Mr George after the punch reported that as a possible diagnosis.
However, she conceded she could not “100 per cent exclude” it as a possibility, nor could she totally exclude the possibility of a coincidental cardiac arrest contemporaneous to the punch, as it was not possible in a deceased person to determine the cause of cardiac arrest.
She remained confident in her conclusions regarding cause of death.
“The reason I favour my diagnosis is because of the temporal relationship – he’s had a head injury, that’s when this cascade of symptoms has started,” Dr Thompson said.
The Crown closed its case on Thursday afternoon and the defence called forensic pathologist Professor Johan Duflou to give evidence via audiovisual link.
He confirmed cocaine can cause anaphylaxis, and the reaction did not necessarily need to be accompanied by swelling of the tongue and airways.
Professor Duflou said he couldn’t exclude anaphylaxis as a possibility, but he did not think it a very likely contributor to Mr George’s death.
However, he added there were problems with the theory of concussive shock to the medulla leading to cardiac arrest, as Mr George’s medulla did not display signs of damage that could be expected if this were the case.
Mr Tuiasau is expected to give evidence on Friday.
One-punch victim laughed after alleged grope, trial hears
Wednesday: The trial of an ex-footy prodigy charged with a one-punch death after a night out on the Gold Coast has heard the deceased laughed after being confronted about an alleged sexual assault.
Griffin man Oshae Jackson Tuiasau, 30, has pleaded not guilty in the Brisbane Supreme Court to unlawful striking causing the death of New South Wales man Toro George, 39.
Mr George was punched on Surfers Paradise Blvd at about 3.50am on the morning of December 19, 2021. He died of his injuries a week later on December 27.
The court previously heard there was animosity between Mr Tuiasau and Mr George because the deceased had allegedly groped a woman connected to Mr Tuiasau at Havana RnB Nightclub about half an hour before the punch, leading to a confrontation that resulted in both parties being ejected from the club.
Ethan Misa, 25, Mr Tuiasau’s brother-in-law, gave evidence on Wednesday afternoon.
He said the alleged grope “happened right in front of me”.
“I just seen someone walk past her and touch the front of her body, and eventually [his hand] went down,” Mr Misa said.
“I grabbed him by the collar. We were mouthing off at each other.
“There was tension, we were both angry, but I remember he started laughing.”
Mr Misa told the court Mr Tuiasau was not angry when told of the alleged sexual assault, but in fact was trying to make peace between the warring parties.
Earlier on Wednesday, Dylan Thoroughgood, 23, whose birthday Mr George and others in their party were celebrating on the night in question, gave evidence.
He was also one of the several people present when the fatal punch was thrown.
Mr Thoroughgood said he witnessed Mr George apologise to Mr Tuiasau and shake his hand on Surfers Paradise Blvd prior to the group setting off up the street towards their hotel.
He said he didn’t see the punch, but saw Mr George fall immediately afterwards.
Mr Thoroughgood said he heard Mr Tuiasau say, “You shouldn’t have done that,” while walking away and looking over his shoulder after throwing the punch.
Like witnesses Lekisha Marsters and Odain Marsters, both relatives of Mr George who gave evidence on Tuesday, Mr Thoroughgood admitted to lying to police immediately after the punch about what he had seen.
The court heard he told officers he had “no idea” who had felled Mr George, although he did tell them the deceased had been knocked out by someone.
Mr Thoroughgood said he lied because he “wasn’t in the right frame of mind”.
“I didn’t want to be involved with something like this,” he said.
Mr Thoroughgood initially denied seeing Mr George become more agitated as the group walked along Surfers Paradise Blvd.
However, he later conceded Mr George was, although he said the yelling and jostling was largely between Mr George and the deceased’s cousin, Junior Marsters, who gave evidence previously.
The defence case is that Mr Tuiasau was acting in self-defence when he punched Mr George.
The trial continues.
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