A jury on Wednesday found Jamie Michael Richardson, 24, guilty of two charges of culpable driving following roughly two-and-a-half days deliberating in the ACT Supreme Court.

Richardson got behind the wheel drunk and drove his friends home from the Lighthouse pub after a night of drinking in early 2014.

He would later record a blood alcohol reading of 0.19 in hospital after the crash, almost four times the legal limit.

Richardson clipped a gutter, and was urged to pull over, but continued to drive through Canberra's north.

On William Slim Drive, just before the intersection with Dumas Street, the car veered off the road.

It hit a tree and one of the rear passengers, a 29-year-old man, was killed.

A woman in the front seat also suffered serious injuries, and was rushed to hospital for urgent treatment.

Richardson lied to police when they arrived on the scene, telling them the driver had run from the scene and he didn't know who he was.

He admitted that he was the driver soon afterwards, and told police at the scene: "Just do it, f---ing shoot me. I've killed him."

In his closing last week, Crown prosecutor Trent Hickey said that comment and other similar statements were "sub-conscious admissions" to causing the crash.

"Before he had the time to make up a story ... he was sub-consciously admitting to causing the accident," Mr Hickey said.

Another passenger told the court Richardson had apologised for causing the crash while the pair were in hospital together.

Richardson's defence had relied largely on an argument that the front passenger, after urging him to pull over, had wrenched the steering wheel from his grasp, causing the car to leave the road.

His barrister Jack Pappas argued that action left Richardson with only 0.75 of a second to do anything to stop the crash. .

No one, Mr Pappas argued, not even a sober driver, could have stopped the car from hitting the tree in those circumstances.

"It was always going to end in a collision," Mr Pappas said in his closing last week.

"There was nothing anyone could have done, including my client, who was affected by alcohol."

The Crown said that argument was "self-serving", and at-odds with Richardson's comments to police following the crash.

Mr Hickey argued that, even if the passenger grabbed the wheel, it was because Richardson had veered out of his lane due to his drunkenness.

"The accused is trying to sheet home blame for the collision to [the passenger]," he said.

"Even if [the passenger] did grab the wheel, it was not an intervening act ... It was a natural consequence of the accused driving with such a high blood alcohol level."

The jury only needed to be sure that Richardson's driving was a substantial or significant cause of the crash to find him guilty, and Mr Hickey said the evidence on that issue was compelling.

"That is the sad and uncomfortable reality," he said.

Chief Justice Helen Murrell set down sentencing proceedings for mid-April. The court heard he is likely to face a period of full-time imprisonment.

Richardson will remain on bail until then.

The court heard he has a criminal history of two offences involving alcohol. Mr Hickey said on Wednesday that Richardson appeared to make "poor decisions" when drinking, and asked the court to impose bail conditions preventing him from consuming alcohol.

That bail condition was not made, but others that prevent Richardson from driving or holding a licence were.

He will also need to report to Gungahlin police station, because the Crown feared the looming sentence may be a "significant motivation" for him to abscond.