Accused teen sues dead woman's estate
In an unusual legal maneuver, Justine Winter — the Evergreen teenager charged with deliberate homicide in the traffic deaths of Erin Thompson and her 13-year-old son — has sued Thompson’s estate and the construction company that built the U.S. 93 overpass at Church Drive where the accident occurred.
Winter, 17, with her father, Randy Winter, filed the lawsuit in Flathead County District Court July 15 against Knife River Corp., Western Traffic Control Inc., Mountain West Holding Co. and the estate of Erin Thompson. The complaint lists Thompson’s husband, Jason Thompson, as personal representative of the estate.
The lawsuit was filed in District Judge Katherine Curtis’ court. Curtis recently presided over a preliminary trial for Winter and has yet to rule whether she will face trial in juvenile or adult court. Winter was charged as an adult.
Winter alleges that Thompson, of Columbia Falls, negligently operated her vehicle in a manner that caused it to collide with Winter’s vehicle on U.S. 93 in the vicinity of the Church Drive overpass bridge.
The allegation flies in the face of the prosecution’s stand that Winter deliberately drove her car into oncoming traffic in an apparent suicide attempt.
The accident occurred on March 19, 2009, as Thompson (four months pregnant at the time) and her son, Caden Odell, were on their way home from a middle-school choral concert.
Court records indicate Winter was southbound when her Pontiac Grand Am crossed the centerline and struck Thompson’s northbound Subaru Forest head-on at a speed of 85 mph.
Winter further alleges that Knife River, which was in charge of the overpass construction, along with Western Traffic Control and Mountain West Holding Co., negligently failed to adequately construct and maintain traffic-control devices and signals, including lighting, lane delineators and reflective markings. The area wasn’t properly marked or striped, the lawsuit claims.
Those assertions follow testimony at the preliminary trial by defense witness Scott A. Curry, a self-employed engineer, who testified there were no stripes or fog lines on the bridge when the collision occurred based on photos taken by the state Department of Transportation. Curry also maintained there is no evidence that Winter’s vehicle was in the northbound lane when it crashed.
Scrapes and “scrubs” in the southbound lane on the overpass “had to be made by [Winter’s] Grand Am,” Curry testified.
The lawsuit notes that Winter suffered permanent and continuing injuries, along with mental pain and suffering and the loss of capacity to enjoy life. It cites future loss of income and past, present and future medical expenses. Winter is seeking a judgment against the defendants for damages, costs, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest and other relief deemed appropriate.
A key issue in the case is the allegation — based on several text messages just before the crash — that Winters intentionally crashed into Thompson to commit suicide.
Flathead County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ernie Freebury, who served as coroner for the accident, testified at the preliminary trial that it’s reasonable to conclude the crash was intentional based on inspection of the speedometer of Winter’s vehicle that indicated she was traveling 85 mph, and that the vehicle’s brakes weren’t applied until one second before deployment of the air bags.
A forensic linguist for the defense testified that Winter likely didn’t mean to kill herself when she texted her boyfriend about intentionally crashing her car.
The deaths of Erin Thompson and her son provoked an emotional community response.
At a memorial service in March 2009 attended by hundreds of people, they were remembered as “spiritual giants” who added substance to every life they touched.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com