Accused one punch killer Joseph Esmaili’s trial begins

A MAN accused of fatally punching a surgeon at Box Hill Hospital told police he “didn’t mean to hit him that hard”, a jury has heard.

Joseph Esmaili is accused of punching a Melbourne heart surgeon who later died of his injuries. Picture: AAP

A MAN accused of fatally punching a surgeon at Box Hill Hospital told police he “didn’t mean to hit him that hard”, a jury heard on Monday.

Joseph Esmaili, 24, has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of respected heart surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann, 41, in May last year.

The court heard the blow was struck after an argument between the pair over Mr Esmaili’s smoking in a non-smoking area of the hospital.

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Prosecutor Brendan Kissane, QC, told the Supreme Court jury Mr Esmaili had overheard Mr Pritzwald-­Stegmann asking hospital ­reception staff to call security.

“The accused overheard (this) and said: ‘How about you go get f---ed’,” Mr Kissane said.

Mr Esmaili then spat in the doctor’s face before delivering the fatal blow, which caused the surgeon to fall backwards and smack his head on the tiled floor, Mr Kissane said.

Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann died after being punched at Box Hill Hospital. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

The jury was shown CCTV footage of the punch, frame by frame, from three angles.

Blood spatter could be seen on the floor, which witnesses would say came from Mr ­Pritzwald-Stegmann’s nose and ear, Mr Kissane said.

John Desmond, for Mr Esmaili, argued that the footage showed that Mr Pritzwald-Stegmann continuously followed and pursued Mr Esmaili inside the hospital, and his client had acted in self-defence.

“My client is retreating from this argument … he is de-escalating,” Mr Desmond said.

“(Mr Pritzwald-Stegmann) pursues Esmaili. He’s not walking away, he’s not retreating. He’s up for it,” Mr Desmond told the court.

Mr Pritzwald-Stegmann was rushed to The Alfred hospital for emergency surgery.

A coma was induced, but the decision was later made to withdraw life-sustaining treatment, the court heard.

The father of two survived for about a month before succumbing to his injuries.

The trial, before Justice ­Elizabeth Hollingworth and a jury of five women and eight men, will resume on Tuesday.

@GenevieveAlison