A jury has cleared four Hawke's Bay police officers charged with assaulting a man who died after being arrested.
Three of the officers can be named as Constable Rochelle Bryant, dog handler Senior Constable Andrew Knox, and Constable Alexander Simister
The fourth officer, a dog handler, was granted name suppression on the basis publication of his name would cause undue hardship on his unwell father.
The officers were accused of assaulting Gregory McPeake with Tasers and police dogs in March last year.
Mr McPeake, 53, died in the early hours of March 13 after a standoff with police in the Napier suburb of Westshore.
Earlier in the night he had seriously assaulted his 76-year-old father Raymond with a club-like weapon.
There is no suggestion that the police officers' actions contributed to his death, as he was morbidly obese and had a heart condition.
When police found Mr McPeake he refused to get out of his car. The officers smashed out the windows of his vehicle with bolt cutters and then Tasered him.
Later they set two police dogs on him, one from either side of his vehicle.
Mr McPeake eventually fell out of the car door and became "very unresponsive".
First aid was administered immediately by police and paramedics. Their efforts continued for 40 minutes, but were unsuccessful.
Susan Hughes, a lawyer representing one of the accused dog handlers, said on Wednesday her client had a duty to arrest Mr McPeake and stop him from hurting himself or a member of the public.
Ms Hughes said when the officers found Mr McPeake he was "already dying", having suffered a heart attack in the hours prior to his arrest and taken a cocktail of drugs including codeine, cannabis and alcohol.
She admitted it was a mistake to use two police dogs on Mr McPeake, and the officers removed the dogs once they realised both were in the car.
Ms Hughes asked the jury to remember the officers were acting in the moment and on the information at hand.
She also told the jury some may have found Taser video of the incident "confronting", but should treat it as a "snippet" of a lengthy arrest attempt.
In closing arguments for the Crown, Mr Vanderkolk said the officers' actions were a clear case of excessive force.
Mr Vanderkolk said the use of two dogs on Mr McPeake by two of the defendants, who are experienced dog handlers, was a mistake.
One of the senior dog handlers was "impatient" and had a "dismissive" approach to being briefed on the situation prior to the arrest, Mr Vanderkolk said.
The Crown also replayed Taser camera footage of the incident. It shows three minutes of the more than 20-minute exchange.
Mr Vanderkolk highlighted a clip where Mr McPeake says "I will" in response to a command to get out of the car.
He said the video showed one of the officers was acting with "indifference" towards Mr McPeake by not giving a warning prior to firing his Taser.
"He just fired," said Mr Vanderkolk.
On the basis of the video there was no judgement displayed at all, said Mr Vanderkolk.
"This has been an extremely difficult time for the McPeake family, the staff involved, their families and Police colleagues," Eastern District Commander Superintendent Sandra Venables says .
"This matter was thoroughly investigated with assistance from out-of-district staff and was subject to extensive review, with the decision being made that it should be put before the courts to make the final and independent determination.
"It is important the public has trust and confidence in Police to do the right thing," she says.
Police say "an employment process is underway", and will now be progressed with the conclusion of the court process.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority was also notified of the incident when it occurred and are making their own enquiries.
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