Winter appealing murder sentence

An attorney for a young Evergreen woman convicted of two counts of deliberate homicide after intentionally crashing her car head-on into another vehicle in 2009 is appealing her sentence to the Montana Supreme Court.

The notice of appeal was written on behalf of Justine Winter, 18, by her attorney David Stufft. It was filed Monday with the Supreme Court.

Winter was convicted Feb. 3 after a two-week trial in Flathead District Court.

District Judge Katherine Curtis on June 6 sentenced Winter to 15 years in custody of the Montana Department of Corrections with a mandate that she serve at least half that sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

Winter currently is serving the sentence in the Montana Women’s Prison in Billings.

Stufft also is asking the Montana Supreme Court to appoint the Office of the Appellate Defender to represent Winter during the appeal process.

Citing an inability to finance the appeal on a pro bono basis, Stufft wrote that the he would like to continue representing Winter but believes that state can provide adequate representation.

“These factors, coupled with the undersigned having spent almost two years of continuous daily representation of Justine’s case has taken its toll and warrants new counsel to represent Justine Winter’s best interests,” Stufft wrote.

The Supreme Court must receive the Flathead District Court’s records on the case before opening briefs that will detail the nature of the appeal.

Winter intentionally crossed the center of U.S. 93 in a construction zone on March 19, 2009, and crashed into a vehicle driven by a 35-year-old Columbia Falls woman.

Erin Thompson, who was pregnant at the time, died along with her 13-year-old son Caden Vincent Odell. Text messages extracted from Winter’s cellphone included a conversation with her former boyfriend during which she threatened to crash her car and kill herself.

She was traveling at close to 85 miles per hour when she collided with Thompson’s vehicle, according to testimony and court documents.

Stufft argued during the trial that Thompson had caused the collision. Winter later dropped a lawsuit against Thompson’s estate that was based on that theory.

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