Evergreen teen appeals prison sentence

The Evergreen woman convicted of two counts of deliberate homicide for intentionally crashing her car head-on into another vehicle in 2009 has appealed her sentence to the Montana Supreme Court.

Justine Winter, 18, was convicted Feb. 3 after a two-week trial in Flathead County District Court. She was 16 when her vehicle crossed the centerline on U.S. 93 near Church Drive and collided head-on with a vehicle driven by Erin Thompson, 35. Thompson, who was pregnant at the time, and her 13-year-old son, Caden Odell, both Columbia Falls residents, died in the crash.

Judge Katherine Curtis sentenced Winter on June 6 to 15 years with the Montana Department of Corrections and ordered that Winter serve at least half that sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Winter is incarcerated at the Montana Women's Prison in Billings.

Winter's appeal notice was filed with the Supreme Court by her attorney, David Stufft on July 25. Stufft also asked the court to appoint the Office of the Appellate Defender to represent Winter during her appeal.

Stufft had 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.