The family of an 84-year-old brain-injured man who cannot walk, speak, eat or breathe on his own told a Winnipeg court that two doctors believe he may not be beyond hope.

It is the latest chapter in a battle to keep Samuel Golubchuk on life support despite treating physicians saying it's only a matter of time before he dies.

Doctors at Winnipeg's Grace Hospital say he has no chance of recovery and they want the right to remove him from life support.

His family, however, maintains that doing so would constitute a sin under Golubchuk's Orthodox Jewish beliefs and is equal to assault, because it would hasten his death.

On Dec. 11, the family was granted a temporary injunction to keep him alive while a judge in Manitoba's Court of Queen's Bench considers the decision.

On Friday, the family presented testimony from two New York doctors who said his situation wasn't without hope.

An affidavit submitted by Dr. Leon Zacharowicz said that Golubchuk's charts did not show him to be dying.

The family's lawyer, Neil Kravetsky, argued that just because he couldn't respond verbally, didn't mean there is not brain activity.

"This has always been one issue. And the issue is the right to self determination and to live in a free and democratic society without having some dictator telling you whether you should live or die," he told CTV Winnipeg.

Lawyers for the hospital said that they could provide expert opinions that agreed with them, but that the decision is up to treating doctors.

"The issue is: does this treating physician have the right to make the judgment call," Bill Olson told reporters outside the court on Friday.

"He or she has to live with it, and if they make the wrong call then there are consequences to those physicians."

Golubchuk has been in hospital since Oct. 26 and has been on a ventilator and feeding tube since the end of November.

He was suffering from a pre-existing brain injury from a fall in 2003 that resulted in the removal of part of his brain.

The statements were not made public because Justice Perry Schulman still has to determine if they are admissible evidence. The hearing was closed on Dec. 11.

Kravetsky argued on Friday that he was not provided complete medical charts until after the original hearing was closed. He could not get a second opinion on the charts until now, he said.

Schulman has not decided on Golubchuk's fate, but said he would have something to tell lawyers next week.

With a report from CTV Winnipeg's Kelly Dehn