SA man guilty of shoelace murder attempt

An Adelaide man has been found guilty of attempting to murder a stranger by choking him with a shoelace in an unexplained daylight attack.

Justice Sam Doyle, who presided over the trial in the absence of a jury, delivered his verdict against 37-year-old David John Pearce in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Pearce approached Abdolhadi Moradi, 28, from behind as the Afghan national walked down a footpath north of Adelaide on a morning in January 2018.

He wrapped a shoelace around Mr Moradi's neck and dragged him to the pavement, as his victim struggled to free himself and eventually lost consciousness.

"I am satisfied that the strangulation continued for at least a minute, and probably closer to two minutes" Justice Doyle said in his judgment.

Pearce was arrested by police nearby a few minutes later, while Mr Moradi was left "relatively unscathed" with minor neck injuries.

During the trial, prosecutors suggested the attack on Mr Moradi was racially motivated.

Justice Doyle acknowledged that as a possible explanation, but said it would be speculative to rule Pearce had wanted to carry out "a racially motivated 'show killing'".

"While there is some evidential basis for this suggested motive, given the appearance of Mr Moradi and the very public setting of the attack, I do not consider it appropriate to make a finding to this effect," he said.

Justice Doyle said the evidence did not give way to any explanation or motive for Pearce's "serious and brazen" attack.

The court also heard Pearce was taken to hospital after his arrest, and tests revealed he had likely consumed small amounts of methamphetamine as well as some cannabis.

Justice Doyle said he was affected by intoxication or dehydration and his decision-making may have been impaired, but he still formed the necessary mental intent to kill.

"The prosecution has excluded any reasonable possibility that the accused was confused, delirious, psychotic or otherwise affected to the extent that he did not know and understand what he was doing," he said.

Justice Doyle remanded Pearce in custody to reappear before the court for sentencing submissions later this month.