"It's up there with some of the worst one I've seen." The criminal complaint noted that neither road conditions nor alcohol were thought to be a factor in the crash. Montana State Trooper Dustin LaRette, who arrived on the scene the next day for the accident reconstruction, said the road construction going on at the time of the crash that reduced the speed limit from 65 to 55. "I'm concerned that the lawsuit being filed is going to inflame the public in what's already for us a relatively notorious case," he added. "I can't speculate on what they're thinking, but it could be strategy of some sort." "I wouldn't be surprised if it was an effort on their part to force a change of venue or put pressure on the state to get it settled," he said. Winter's attorneys, David Stufft and Maxwell Battle Jr., also did not return repeated calls for comment.įlathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan, who is prosecuting the criminal case against Winter, told that Winter's lawsuit may prove to be the start of her defense. No one from the Winter or Thompson families could be reached for comment. Winter, backed by her father Randy Winter because of her status as a minor, accuses Thompson of causing the accident through "negligent driving." The three companies - Knife River Corporation, Western Traffic Control, Inc., and Mountain West Holding Company - are accused of failing to properly maintain the highway, which was under construction at the time. "If I won, I would have you," one text message read. Their evidence, in part, rests with a series of ominous text messages Winter sent to her boyfriend minutes before the crash. Prosecutors say the March 2009 crash was a calculated suicide attempt that occurred less than an hour after she broke up with her boyfriend and left his house. Justine Winter was 16 years old the night her car plowed head-on into another vehicle on Montana's Highway 93, killing 35-year-old Erin Thompson and her 13-year-old son Caden Odell. 16, 2010— - A Montana teenager charged with deliberately causing a fatal car crash in a failed suicide attempt has filed a lawsuit against the family of the pregnant woman who was killed in the collision with her teenage son.Įveryone from the prosecutor in the case to neighbors of both families have raised their eyebrows at the teen's actions, with some saying it may be an inappropriate defense tactic.
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