KEY POINTS:
The Crown says four police officers had no justification for repeatedly using pepper spray and batons on a prisoner in a cell.
But the defence says the officers were doing their duty by following a tactical plan to subdue a violent and psychotic individual.
The jury in the trial of Sergeants Keith Parsons and Erle Busby, Senior Constable Bruce Laing and Constable John Mills is expected to retire today to consider its verdict.
The four officers are accused of assaulting Rawiri Falwasser at Whakatane police station on Labour Day 2006. They are standing trial at Tauranga District Court, where Crown and defence lawyers gave their closing addresses in front of Judge Patrick Treston yesterday.
Prosecutor Fletcher Pilditch told the jury that the case was "an instance when a fellow citizen was deprived of his liberty".
Mr Pilditch said police had the right to use force, but the issue in this case was whether the force was reasonable and necessary.
He said police could use reasonable force to search, fingerprint or photograph a prisoner, or for self-defence, but in this case, Falwasser was not violent and had made no threats of violence.
There was no dispute his behaviour was erratic and bizarre, but he was suffering from a psychotic episode and did eventually respond to calm, patient requests to be fingerprinted and photographed.
Mr Pilditch said instead of hitting Falwasser across the head and arms with batons, and pepper-spraying him inside the locked cell for 10 minutes, the police officers could have used other methods, such as calling a police negotiator.
But Parsons' lawyer, Susan Hughes, QC, said the officers were endeavouring to negotiate with Falwasser, who had refused to be fingerprinted or photographed for more than an hour-and-a-half.
She said the incident involving Parsons had lasted no more than 35 seconds, and he had hit Mr Falwasser on the head and deployed his pepper spray only after Mr Falwasser advanced on him.
Parsons had explored various options for dealing with Falwasser, including calling mental health professionals to assess him, and was a conscientious officer dealing with an explosive prisoner, Ms Hughes said.
The alleged assault was captured on video surveillance but Busby's lawyer, Rachael Adams, and Mills' lawyer, Richard Earwaker, said the footage needed to be viewed in context.
Mr Earwaker said all the officers knew about the camera, and Mills had said he was thankful for its presence "because it was there to protect him from false allegations".
Falwasser had a head injury after being hit with a baton, and had punched at officers when they tried to subdue him with shields.
Mr Earwaker said the officers had limited tactical options left at this point because "talking hadn't worked", and Parsons had approved Mills' plan to pepper spray through the cell vents.
Pepper spray did not cause injury and only three of his shots had connected, despite the Crown counting that Mills sprayed 23 times.
