Vehicles allowed as evidence in teen's trial

Both vehicles involved in a 2009 collision that killed a Columbia Falls woman and her teenage son will be allowed as evidence in an upcoming deliberate homicide trial in Flathead County District Court.

Judge Katherine Curtis issued the ruling Monday after an attorney for 17-year-old Justine Winter claimed one of the vehicles had been vandalized since the March 19, 2009, crash on U.S. 93.

The collision killed 35-year-old Erin Julie Thompson and her 13-year-old son, Caden Vincent Odell.

Attorney David Stufft had moved to suppress the evidence in light of the alleged breach in the chain of custody. An evidentiary hearing was held Sept. 15.

In her ruling, Curtis cited testimony by Montana Highway Patrol troopers Glen Barcus and Dustin LeRette, who said at the hearing that a broken rear window did not constitute a structural deficiency pertinent to the crash investigation.

The vehicles — Winter’s Pontiac Grand Am and Thompson’s Subaru Forester — have been kept in a fenced impound lot at the Flathead County Road Department since the crash.

Winter has been charged with two counts of deliberate homicide. Prosecutors allege that she intentionally crossed the center line while speeding through a construction zone in an attempt to commit suicide.

Winter, who is being tried as an adult, allegedly had been engaged in a text-message conversation with her boyfriend during which she referred to suicide and crashing her car, according to court documents.

Her trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 8.

Curtis has yet to rule on additional motions, including a request by Stufft to move the trial out of Northwest Montana.