A soldier has pleaded not guilty to two charges following the death of another soldier during a training exercise in 2012.
Rifleman Private Michael Ross died during an exercise on Lake Maowhango, near Waiouru, when he fell out of an under-inflated Zodiac boat.
His life jacket then failed to inflate because a used gas canister had not been replaced.
At a summary trial at Linton Military Camp today, Corporal Timothy Goodall pleaded not guilty to a charge of negligently doing an act likely to cause loss of life while operating a boat, and not guilty to a charge of negligently permitting a boat to be hazarded.
Goodall also pleaded guilty to a charge of negligently failing to perform a duty.
Goodall was the boat commander of the Zodiac at the time of Private Ross' death.
The trial was told that Goodall failed to ensure the boat - which had eight people on board - was properly inflated in while managing choppy swells on the lake at the time.
The summary trial continues.
- Nikki Papatsoumas of NZME. News Service
