The man accused of culpable driving over the death of his mate at Summernats last year will have to wait a little longer for a verdict, after the jury hearing his case said on Friday they wanted to continue deliberating next week.
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The question for the jury to decide is the degree of Alister Spong's negligence the day Luke Newsome fell off the back of his flat bed truck while they were cruising at Canberra's annual car festival.
The jury began deliberating on Friday afternoon but it soon had some questions of its own. It sent a note to the judge, asking if there can be "an accident without negligence".
Yes, Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson told the jury. "There can be adverse events [that] can occur without negligence."
The jury also asked whether it could consider the particular circumstances of Summernats when considering whether Mr Spong's driving was negligent in all the circumstances.
The judge told the jury it was a matter for them to decide what relevant circumstances they take into account.
The ACT Supreme Court has heard that Mr Spong, 33, was driving his modified 1942 Ford Jailbar truck around the cruise route at Summernats when he attempted to spin the wheels a few rotations, a move he called a "chirpie".
But the move failed and the back wheels instead bit into the road. The truck suddenly surged forward, throwing two friends off the back of the flat bed tray.
One friend was able to brush himself off but Mr Newsome, 30, suffered fatal head injuries from the fall and he died the following day in hospital.
While Mr Spong has pleaded guilty to negligent driving causing the death of Mr Newsome, prosecutors pressed a charge of culpable driving.
The charge alleges Mr Spong failed "unjustifiably and to a gross degree" to observe the standard of care that a reasonable person would have in all the circumstances. To that charge he has pleaded not guilty.
Mr Spong's defence lawyers have told the court the level of negligence was low and that he had made an error of judgment. They said he tried only a minor spin of the wheels at the annual car festival where many others were doing smoking burnouts and "power launches".
But prosecutors say the level of negligence was high. They said the Queensland man was responsible for the safety of his passengers, and he "experimented" when he tried to spin the wheels, for the first time with five people sitting on the tray.
The jury returns on Monday to continue deliberating.
