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A one-week trial in February 2024 has been allocated after Karen Tui formally entered a not guilty plea to the allegation she killed her mother. (File photo)
A woman previously deemed mentally unfit to take part in court proceedings after the alleged 2019 murder of her mother will now face trial in February next year.
On Friday, Karen Anne Tui appeared via audio-visual link in the High Court at New Plymouth, more than two years after her last appearance.
She was charged with the August 2019 murder of her mother, 72-year-old Suzanne Mary Tui, but due to her mental health presentation at the time, she was deemed unfit to stand trial.
Tui was subsequently detained as a special patient under the Criminal Procedure Mentally Impaired Persons Act.
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Suzanne Tui’s body was found at the family home in New Plymouth on August 13, 2019. (File photo)
She has been held at the secure, Henry Rongomau Bennett Centre facility in Hamilton ever since.
However, recent improvements in her mental health meant she had been re-assessed as being able to stand trial, which has been set down to begin the week of February 12, 2024.
At Friday’s hearing, defence lawyer Paul Keegan formalised his client’s not guilty plea to the charge.
He advised the court two mental health reports were being sought by the Crown, and he would seek his own as part of the defence case.
Insanity was the main issue to be explored by the consulting psychiatrists, Keegan said.
A further High Court callover will be held on May 26.
