By the time of the raid (at approximately 6:35 am on January 20, 2012) Dotcom said FBI agents had already shut down Megaupload servers in the US, the Netherlands and Canada. Dotcom said police would have been aware of this, because two FBI agents were present and were in direct contact with their headquarters.

Asked later by Davison to describe the internet connections at the Coatesville property, Dotcom said that there was a 100 Mbps fibre connection, a backup wireless connection via Auckland's Sky Tower and 3G mobile wireless service. All three could have easily been disabled by the authorities, Dotcom said.

Davison said he would be calling four police witnesses during the hearing. These will include a police electronic crime laboratory specialist, two members of the armed Special Tactics Group and detective inspector Grant Wormald, head of the Office of Financial Crime Agency New Zealand.

Dotcom's US lawyer, Ira Rothken, was present in court though he took no active part in the proceedings. Also present in court were Dotcom's wife, Mona and Dotcom's co-accused Mathias Ortmann, Fin Batato and Bram van der Kolk.