An officer charged with manslaughter has denied beating up a man in the back seat of a police car while he was off-duty.
Constable Clinton Hill is on trial over the death of George Harris who was hit by a street sweeping truck in the South Auckland suburb of Manukau in 2004.
Mr Hill is also charged with assault and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The defence presented its case to the Auckland High Court jury on Monday and called Mr Hill, who is suspended on full pay, as its sole witness to give evidence.
Mr Hill told the court he arrested George Harris after the man tried to steal his phone and ripped his jacket.
The Crown says the accused then assaulted Mr Harris in the back of a police car before chasing him into the path of an oncoming truck.
But Mr Hill told the court he never assaulted the man and his pursuit ended short of Mr Harris being hit by the truck because he fell over.
Earlier, Mr Hill told the court he had consumed about eight beers throughout the course of the evening before he arrested Mr Harris.
Under cross-examination, Mr Hill told the court he felt "slightly intoxicated", but says his judgment was not impaired by what he'd had to drink.
