Man shot like 'something from Wild West'

There was a reason Clinton Pollock was known as "Rocky", a court has heard.

"Not from Rocky and Bullwinkle fame ... but the Sylvester Stallone version ... someone you don't mess with," defence barrister Gregory McGuire said on Monday.

What unfolded when Mr Pollock met Justin John Meale after a drug deal went bad resembled scenes from the Wild West, the Brisbane Supreme Court heard.

Meale, 31, has pleaded not guilty to murder after Mr Pollock was shot by a sawn-off rifle outside his home north of Brisbane on Father's Day four years ago.

Following a brief argument, Mr Pollock, 35, was shot in the torso and later died after being helped back inside the Deception Bay house by his sister, the court heard.

Crown prosecutor Danny Boyle told the jury that Mr Pollock was unarmed when he walked out to meet Meale and three others at the front gate about 11.30pm in September 2018.

But Meale claimed Mr Pollock looked a "bit suss" with a hand in his pocket and believed he was reaching for a gun, the court heard.

The pair had fallen out after Mr Pollock did not receive drugs from Meale in exchange for a bag of bullets in a deal organised the previous day.

They traded text messages with increasing hostility before the late night meeting, with Mr Pollock referring to Meale's sawn-off 0.22 rifle as his "pea shooter".

"I will spray your whole house up," Mr Pollock said in a text to Meale read to the court.

"If you don't want me to come there and play up, that little toy you have got is not going to stop me, let me tell you.

"You've got one bullet in the chamber. I have got 15 so don't go mouthing off to me you goose."

Meale told police that Mr Pollock's demeanour upon his arrival convinced him that he had a gun and was going to "spray me".

Meale decided to shoot first but only intended to aim for the shoulder to teach Mr Pollock a lesson, the court heard.

"I was thinking alright 'I got one shot, if he is going to shoot me I will shoot him first ... because if he has got a f***ing sprayer I am not going to win," Meale told police.

He claimed Mr Pollock "twitched" as he approached his group and thought he was about to draw a weapon, the court heard.

"I have just gone bang, that was it, it was that quick," Meale told police.

Mr McGuire then told the jury: "It is almost like something from the Wild West".

The defence barrister agreed that Meale initially lied to police about the incident but eventually told his side of the story.

"You are about to get a look into a lifestyle that I suspect would astound you and probably depress you," Mr McGuire told the jury.

"Four words can be used to sum up this trial - drugs, guns, testosterone and stupidity."

The trial before Justice Thomas Bradley continues.