The trial of two men accused of causing the death of four people following an alleged street race in the Waikato in 2016 is under way at the High Court at Hamilton.
Dylan Cossey and Stephen John Jones, both 20, have been charged with four counts of manslaughter each following the crash by the Hamilton Airport on June 24, 2016.
Hannah Lies Strickett-Craze, 24, Lance Tyrone Robinson, 28, Paul de Silva, 20, and Jason McCormick Ross, 19, were killed instantly when they collided with a van on State Highway 3.
They're also both charged with causing injury to the van driver and failing to stop to ascertain his injuries.
Jones faces an additional charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Twenty-one witnesses are scheduled to give evidence during the two-week trial.
Prosecutor Duncan McWilliam told the jury the Crown case would focus on an illegal street race between Cossey and Lance Robinson.
Mr Robinson, driving a Nissan Skyline, fish-tailed while overtaking Cossey's Honda and slammed into an oncoming vehicle, seriously injuring the driver.
"It was a race between two vehicles that Cossey could of disengaged from but he continued at speeds in excess of 150km/h," Mr McWilliam said.
The Crown lawyer said that Jones recorded the events on his cellphone that night and would later go and show others at a party they both attended.
However, when he was interviewed by police four days later, the film had been edited down to just 11 seconds, from the original 38 seconds of footage.
Cossey's lawyer Philip Morgan QC, in response to the Crown's opening address, told the jury Mr Robinson's driving caused the accident.
Jones' counsel Russell Boot told the court his client was a passenger in a vehicle and in no way encouraged anyone to speed.
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