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Ashton testified he fell down on top of Hamza, while Watson argues he climbed on top of him and hit Hamza additional times. Ashton testified he doesn’t have a good memory of the evening.

In the video, Ashton gets up and walks towards Whyte Avenue, where he hails a cab.

“I got kind of scared,” Ashton told the court.

Ashton left the scene and turned himself in to police a few days later.

During cross-examination, Watson asked Ashton why, if Hamza was angry and Ashton didn’t want to be around him anymore, he didn’t walk away, or ask the nearby bouncers for assistance.

Watson put it to Ashton that he was angry with Hamza when he threw the punch.

Ashton said he was trying to calm Hamza down, and didn’t want him to be “offended.”

In his closing argument, Ashton’s lawyer, Ashok Gill, argued the relevant acts from the night Hamza died span a window of two to four seconds, and that the video evidence isn’t clear enough to prove what happened beyond a reasonable doubt.

He also questioned the cause of Hamza’s injuries, and said it’s not possible to see exactly what happens in the video.

An autopsy report found trauma to Hamza’s face and head caused his death.

In his own closing argument, Watson argued Ashton throwing the punch was not justified, and doesn’t meet the standard of self-defence.

“At that point, all the accused had to do was walk away,” Watson said.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Beverly Browne will deliver her verdict April 5.

pparsons@postmedia.com

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