The man, 20, whose name continues to be suppressed, was charged with the February crash which killed 20-year-old Jack Victor Hugh Stephens.
In the High Court in Invercargill today he pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and the alternative charge of drink-driving causing death.
He also pleaded not guilty to causing injury in relation to a second victim of the crash.
A woman on the victim’s side of the gallery was visibly upset before the hearing began and cried loudly when the not guilty pleas were read.
Defence counsel Kate McHugh argued for continued name suppression for the defendant, while the Crown was opposed.
Ms McHugh said they were awaiting suppressed details that would make the impact of the defendant being named clearer.
Crown prosecutor Mike Brownlie said the impact on the defendant came from the accident and would be there regardless of if he was named.
A police statement said previously that they attended the fatal crash on the Niagara-Tokanui highway at about 8.35pm on February 15.
They said a ute had rolled between McManus Road and Quarry Hills Fortification Road, and despite best efforts by emergency services, Mr Stephens died at the scene.
Two other occupants of the ute received serious to critical injuries, police said.
At the start of July, a relative of Mr Stephens told the Otago Daily Times the family were "just pleased" a prosecution was going ahead over the fatal crash.
Four and a-half months on from the crash, police said a 20-year-old man had been charged with manslaughter in relation to the accident.
At the time, the relative said the family were still pretty upset and declined to comment further, saying they would wait and see what happened at the trial.
"It’s still too fresh," the family member said.
The defendant will next appear in court in November.
