No date in crash case amid mental health fears
A magistrate has declined to set a hearing date for a woman accused of causing an horrific road crash that left three people dead, amid concerns over the defendant’s mental state.
Uiatu “Joan” Taufua allegedly fled from a police patrol car on December 30, 2022, before ploughing into an oncoming vehicle just minutes later carrying Steffi Zimmer, her mother Susan Zimmer and her mother’s former partner Chris Fawcett. All three died at the scene.
Taufua was charged with manslaughter, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, evade police and unlicensed driving. A charge of mid-range drink driving was added at a subsequent court appearance in March last year. No pleas have yet been entered.
Taufua is the mother of Brisbane Broncos star Payne Haas and rising Gold Coast Titans player Klese.
The case has been mentioned in court on almost a dozen occasions over the past 15 months, but is yet to progress past a series of mentions, with lawyers for Taufua still waiting on the completion of a psychiatric assessment. Appearing on behalf of the Kings Law Group during another mention of the case on Thursday, defence barrister Martin Longhurst told the court a psychiatric report was “still being worked on”, with interviews still to be carried out with members of Taufua’s family.
Mr Longhurst said he was conscious of the case moving to the committal hearing phase – often a precursor to a trial, because of concerns from prosecutors “that this matter seems to be dragging on without progress”.
Magistrate Sarah Thompson said she would not set any committal hearing dates if there were “capacity issues” over Taufua’s mental state.
“It’s a waste of the court’s time and resources … if your client has capacity issues,” she said.
The case was adjourned until May 16. Kings Law Group was contacted for comment.