A jury on Tuesday accepted Kane Flanders was defending himself in a chaotic early-morning confrontation in April 2024.
Flanders, 32, and his brother emerged from their home in Raymond Terrace, north of Sydney, to ask a disruptive couple to be quiet in the early hours of April 9.
They found Ashley Morgan, 38, carrying an axe he had brought to meet his on-again, off-again girlfriend after suspecting someone had taken his drugs and phone, the jury heard.
CCTV footage showed Mr Morgan and his partner walking around the street, yelling abuse, and swinging at letterboxes with the axe.
Mr Flanders told his brother to pass him a machete and was instead handed a metal scooter that had been sitting on their verandah, the jury was told.
Mr Morgan fell to the ground after being struck and was unable to be revived.
On Tuesday, a jury found Flanders not guilty of murder after more than three days of deliberations, accepting his argument of self-defence and that his actions were not excessive.
He argued he had been hit with the axe during the altercation and was defending himself against Mr Morgan when he swung the scooter.
"I hit him, he's literally attacking me with an axe," he told an officer at the scene, the jury heard.
An autopsy found Mr Morgan died of blunt force head injuries and had cannabinoids and methamphetamine in his system.
Flanders will remain in custody on remand over unrelated charges.
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