Jan. 24 trial date set for teen's case

After two delays, an Evergreen teenager’s murder trial has been rescheduled to begin Jan. 24 in Flathead District Court.

Justine Winter’s trial on two counts of deliberate homicide related to a 2009 collision that killed two people originally was set for the first week of September.

District Judge Katherine Curtis reset the trial to Nov. 8, but Winter’s attorneys requested another extension during a pretrial hearing five days before jury selection.

Curtis initially was reluctant to delay the proceedings but vacated the November trial after Winter waived her right to a speedy trial.

A pretrial conference is Jan. 19 and Winter has been ordered to attend. She has not been present for recent hearings, choosing instead to be represented by attorneys Maxwell Battle and David Stufft.

Curtis issued a series of deadlines in her order filed Wednesday. Among them is the requirement that attorneys on both sides submit final lists of witnesses by Nov. 19. 

Winter, 17, was charged after a March 19, 2009, collision in which prosecutors say she intentionally crossed the centerline in a construction zone on U.S. 93 north of Kalispell and crashed into another vehicle.

The crash killed Erin Thompson, 35, of Columbia Falls and her 13-year-old son, Caden Vincent Odell. Thompson was pregnant at the time.

Winter suffered severe injuries in the crash.

Investigators made the homicide determination based on text messages retrieved from Winter’s cell phone in which she made references to suicide and crashing her car, according to court documents.

Her defense attorneys maintain that the texts were not suicidal, citing the reports of two forensic linguists who examined the messages.

The trial is expected to last up to 10 days. If convicted, Winter, who is being tried as an adult, faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Reporter Eric Schwartz may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at eschwartz@dailyinterlake.com.