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The mother of premiership-winning NRL star Payne Haas was struggling with the death of her firstborn son before a horror head-on collision that left three people dead, a court has been told.
Uiatu 'Joan' Taufua faces three counts of manslaughter stemming from the devastating crash on a narrow rural road in the Gold Coast hinterland on December 30, 2022.
Police will allege that she was fleeing police before ploughing into an oncoming vehicle, killing Chris Fawcett, 79, Susan Zimmer, 70, and her 35-year-old daughter Steffanie.
Taufua - the mother of Brisbane Broncos forward Payne and Gold Coast Titans second rower Klese Haas - was the crash's sole survivor.
She was charged with a string of offences including three counts of manslaughter.
Almost three years after the crash, Taufua faces further delays and remains in custody.
Payne Haas's mother Uiatu 'Joan' Taufua (pictured) was struggling with the death of her firstborn son before a horror head-on collision in December of 2022 that left three people dead, a court has been told
Taufua (pictured, centre) faces three counts of manslaughter stemming from the devastating crash on a narrow rural road in the Gold Coast hinterland
Chace Haas (pictured, left) died in Gold Coast Hospital in August 2020. He lived most of his life in a wheelchair after surviving a car accident at just five months of age
With both his parents in jail, Broncos star Payne Haas has taken on the role of family patriarch
Her lawyers pushed for another adjournment as key questions over her mental state were raised during a brief mention in the Queensland Supreme Court on Thursday.
Despite prosecutors pushing for the case to finally move forward, Taufua's defence team has asked for additional time for a psychological report to be completed.
'In the time leading up to the driving, the defendant had been displaying very aberrant behaviour with respect to a recently deceased disabled child,' barrister Martin Longhurst told the court.
Chace Haas, 21, died in Gold Coast Hospital in August 2020.
He had lived virtually his entire life in a wheelchair after snapping his neck in a car accident at just five months of age.
Taufua had struggled to accept his death, the court was told.
'She was going for frequent walks at all hours of the morning, indicating to family members she was taking her son (Chace) for a walk in his wheelchair and that she had been given messages by her son.'
The defence team is attempting to extract GPS data tracing her rambling walks from a fitness app, which will form part of her psychological assessment.
The court granted the adjournment, ordering the report to be finalised before the case is mentioned again on November 20.
