Man charged with killing Reverend Jenny Henson in car crash appears in court

The defendant appeared in the High Court at Wellington this morning. Photo / File

The man accused of killing Wairarapa reverend Jenny Henson in a horror car crash was "in some form of psychotic state" at the time, his lawyer says.

The man, who is in his 40s, has been charged with dangerous driving causing death following the crash in June.

Henson was killed when a car, driven on the wrong side of the road at speeds witnesses estimated reached 100km/h, hit her vehicle in central Carterton.

Wairarapa Police Area Commander Scott Miller said at the time Henson was just "exceptionally unlucky to be in the car, at the wrong place, at the wrong time".

Miller alleged the driver was "deliberately" on the wrong side of the road travelling through a 50km/h area at an "excessive speed".

The man, who has interim name suppression, appeared in the High Court at Wellington this morning on the driving charge.

Defence lawyer Robert Lithgow QC said it was not clear yet what all the issues would be at trial, but said mental health would be "front and centre one way or another".

"The defendant was clearly in some form of psychotic state around the time," he said.

Justice Simon France ordered a new mental health report to be done.

"I put it no more strongly than it was clear something was going on at the time," he said.

He set a trial date for July next year and remanded the defendant to a case review hearing in October.

Name suppression is expected to be reviewed at that hearing.

The defendant remains in custody.