A young man will stand trial over the death of a respected Melbourne heart surgeon who he is accused of punching at Box Hill Hospital during a dispute about smoking last year. Joseph Esmaili, 23, is accused of felling surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann with a single punch in the hospital’s foyer on May 30. Mr Pritzwald-Stegmann, a 41-year-old father of two, died about four weeks later. Mr Esmaili has pleaded not guilty to five charges, including seriously and recklessly causing injury and manslaughter. He was in Melbourne Magistrates Court this week for a committal hearing.
