A drunk driver charged with culpable driving over crash that claimed the life of his friend has gone on trial in the ACT Supreme Court.
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Jamie Michael Richardson, 24, was driving when his car left the road and crashed into a tree on William Slim Drive in McKellar in the early hours of February 1, 2014.
A 29-year-old man, who was sitting in the rear left hand side of the car, died.
A female passenger was seriously injured and two other occupants, including Mr Richardson, suffered minor injuries.
Mr Richardson, of Ngunnawal, has pleaded not guilty to culpable driving causing death and culpable driving causing grievous bodily harm and his jury trial began on Thursday.
In his opening address, Crown prosecutor Trent Hickey told the court a group of friends had met at the crash victim's house before one of the friends drove them to The Lighthouse pub in Belconnen, where they had dinner and drinks, about 7.30pm.
Soon after, one of the friends who was going to be the group's designated driver, got sick and had to be driven home.
The group decided they would catch a taxi home instead and, after several hours of drinking, decided to leave about 1.30am.
Mr Hickey said the jury would see CCTV footage which showed Mr Richardson had carried the handbag of his friend who had driven the group to the pub.
He was then seen to drive her car to the front of the pub where the three friends got in and he drove off.
Moments later, the car veered off the road for about 20 metres before it crashed head-on into the tree.
Emergency services crews arrived soon after but the man died at the scene.
The court heard police at the scene of the crash spoke to Mr Richardson and observed he was unsteady on his feet, his speech was slurred and his breath smelled strongly of alcohol.
He was arrested and later returned a blood-alcohol reading of 0.19, nearly four times the legal limit of 0.05.
The jury heard the accused had made a series of admissions, including that he was over the legal blood-alcohol limit and was the driver of the car.
Mr Hickey said the jury needed to decide whether Mr Richardson's driving contributed significantly to the man's death.
The court heard Mr Richardson's defence team would argue the car's owner, who was sitting in the car's passenger seat, had grabbed the steering wheel in the moments before the crash, causing the car to veer off the road and into the tree.
Defence barrister Jack Pappas, in his opening submissions, said it was the defendant's case that no more sober or alert driver could have avoided a collision under those circumstances.
The jury is expected to make a visit to the scene of the crash on Friday.
The trial, before Chief Justice Helen Murrell, continues.
