Churchis and the young woman make a quick trip to Burger King on Queen St to use the bathrooms, before re-joining the two friends.
Around three minutes later the young woman leaves, followed shortly afterwards by the three young men; Churchis bringing up the rear.
As he approaches his two friends, one of them lifts his hand up and the pair are seen to share "some sort of embrace". He then high-fives the second friend.
The three men later return to the scene around 6.30am, where they again disappear out of range before walking out of the lane towards Albert St.
Constable Raymond Arrow, who reviewed all the CCTV footage of the scene, said no-one else entered the lane during that time.
Mr Linder was found shortly before 9am and was taken to Auckland City Hospital where he died on August 3 after developing pneumonia as a secondary cause of his brain injuries.
A doctor who treated Mr Linder gave evidence that his prognosis was "very poor" when he was admitted to intensive care.
"We could not say he had any chance of making a good survival," said Dr Craig Hourigan of the department of critical care.
He suffered severe brain and facial injuries, and combined with a previous head injury he sustained when he was stabbed with a screwdriver in Sydney in 2001, it was unlikely he would live, he said.
If he had survived, he would have been severely disabled.
Dr Hourigan denied Mr Linder died because of a decision made by his family and medical staff not to treat his injuries "aggressively" by operating on his brain injuries or prescribing antibiotics when he developed pneumonia. Instead it was decided to treat his pain and keep him comfortable until he passed away.
"There was a certain inevitability to him dying. It would have slowed the process rather than stopped the process."
Churchis has pleaded not guilty to Mr Linder's murder.
The trial continues.
