A gunman had "murder on his mind" when he fired three bullets from a moving car, with only "pure dumb luck" preventing the death of his target, a prosecutor has argued.
But the shooter's barrister claims his client must be "the world's worst hitman" if that is true, suggesting the man was just "talking shit" when he described having intended to kill.
Precisely what Connor John Manns intended during the drive-by shooting incident is at the heart of his ACT Supreme Court trial, at which a jury heard closing addresses on Monday.
Manns, 25, has been on trial since last week, having pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and an alternative charge of intentionally attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm.
While he admits firing a .25 calibre pistol towards a man in Casey, his lawyers say he should only be found guilty of discharging loaded arms in an act endangering life.
In his closing address on Monday, prosecutor Marcus Dyason told jurors the messages Manns had sent before and after the November 2021 incident should "weigh heavily" on their minds during deliberations.
Mr Dyason said the key question for the jury was what Manns had intended when he fired at the other man, who had agreed to meet the 25-year-old for a fist fight to sort out a feud.
The prosecutor suggested jurors would find the answer in "the accused's own words".
Mr Dyason highlighted messages in which Manns told the other man, before the incident, that he wanted "to see blood" and that he was going to put "nine holes" in him.
After the event, Manns texted a friend saying: "I tried to kill him last night."
The gunman also described aiming at the other man's temple and being "so dirty" at himself for missing.
Mr Dyason acknowledged that if Manns had wanted to kill, his attempt had "probably not" been very good.
But the prosecutor said that did not change the gunman's intention, arguing it was telling that Manns did a U-turn and fired the third shot after the first two missed the other man.
In his closing address, defence barrister James Maher urged the jury to adopt "the ABC approach".
"Assume nothing. Believe nobody. Check everything," he said.
Mr Maher suggested jurors should be particularly wary of believing Manns.
While he acknowledged his client had sent a message describing an intention to kill, Mr Maher said Manns had "a clear track record of being duplicitous and talking shit".
The defence barrister cited examples from message threads involving Manns, telling jurors "you cannot take anything [he] says as true, reliable or accurate".
Mr Maher encouraged the jury to pay close attention to the testimony of a firearms expert, which was "one of the only pieces of evidence that is truly independent".
According to Mr Maher, this evidence demonstrated that one of the three shots had been aimed downwards, towards a road or footpath, which he said was inconsistent with an intention to kill.
Indeed, Mr Maher said, this evidence supported the proposition Manns had merely wanted to scare the other man.
Defence counsel told jurors they would not be able to rule out this possibility, even if they debated the issue of intent "until the cows come home".
Mr Maher concluded by saying the other man had been "a sitting duck" at the time of the incident, which had occurred in a quiet street at 4.30am.
He questioned why Manns would have fired a pistol from a car at a moving target had he been attempting to kill.
"Mr Manns is either the world's worst hitman, or he didn't actually intend to kill [the other man] or seriously injure him," Mr Maher told jurors.
The jury will retire to begin deliberations once Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson has summed up the case and provided legal directions.
