A police officer accused of killing a 95-year-old woman with dementia will argue he used reasonable force when he tasered her, a court has been told.
Senior Constable Kristian White is accused of causing Clare Nowland's death after she refused to put down a steak knife at her aged-care home in the NSW town of Cooma in May 2023.
The 33-year-old was charged with manslaughter, to which he pleaded not guilty during his arraignment in April.
His barrister, Troy Edwards SC, on Wednesday told the NSW Supreme Court he intended to bring a police expert on the use of force as a witness, who would argue White acted reasonably under the circumstances.
When asked if the officer intended to claim self-defence, Mr Edwards said it was unlikely.
Prosecutors intend to bring their own police experts as witnesses and are compiling video evidence, including CCTV recordings and body-camera footage.
Mr Edwards also asked the court for White to be tried without a jury when the case went to trial.
Justice Ian Harrison ruled the application would be finalised on October 14, at which time the matter would be heard by a different judge.
White tasered the great-grandmother after she was confronted by police while holding the knife and a walking frame in her residence.
She was repeatedly asked by staff, paramedics and police to drop the knife, according to a police statement of facts previously tendered in court.
Ms Nowland hit her head on the floor when she fell after being tasered.
She was taken to Cooma Hospital, where she died the following week.
White was initially charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault.
But those charges were later withdrawn in favour of manslaughter, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison, after investigators received advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The four-week trial is due to start in November.
