The defendant appeared in the Dunedin District Court today for his judge-alone trial.
Court documents said the man had three videos of "a livestream of the murder of multiple victims at the Deans Avenue mosque".
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment.
The defendant, whose name and occupation were suppressed, denies the charge of possessing an objectionable publication.
He says he had clips of the video for legitimate work purposes, although they were found on the defendant’s personal phone.
“The defence case is that the possession was lawful at the time,” counsel Anne Stevens KC said.
“[The defendant] never used the material, never opened the material.”
In giving evidence, the defendant said he emailed the videos from his work phone to his personal phone but did not think they had been saved.
He said he could not recall exactly when or how he found out the video had been classified as objectionable, but was sure it was in the days after he emailed the video to himself.
The first time he became aware that the videos were saved on his phone was when police advised him he was being investigated.
He said at the time, he did watch the video.
Crown prosecutor Mike Brownlie asked how many times.
“I don't recall, not many, once,” the defendant replied.
He told the court he had been suspended from his employment as a result of the prosecution.
Other government employees gave evidence that they did not see a work-related reason for the man to have the video, especially once it had been classified as objectionable.
Judge David Robinson was expected to deliver his decision on Thursday.
