Civil suit dismissed in teen texting case

The attorney for the Evergreen teenager convicted Feb. 10 of two deliberate homicide charges has moved to dismiss a lawsuit filed on her behalf against the estate of the woman killed in the March 19, 2009, crash.

Maxwell Battle filed a motion in Flathead County District Court on Feb. 11 to dismiss the lawsuit against Erin Thompson’s estate.

Thompson, 35, who was pregnant at the time, and her 13-year-old son, Caden Vincent Odell, were killed in the crash. Thompson was well known in Whitefish and worked at Sage Spa & Salon.

Winter, 17, was convicted after a jury agreed with prosecutors that she intentionally crashed her vehicle into a Thompson’s vehicle in an alleged suicide attempt.

 In July 2010, Battle filed a lawsuit against Thompson’s estate and the construction companies that built the U.S. 93 overpass at Church Drive, where the accident occurred.

The lawsuit alleged that Thompson operated her vehicle negligently and caused it to collide with Winter’s vehicle. Battle and fellow defense attorney David Stufft made a similar argument during Winter’s criminal trial.

Battle and Stufft also alleged that Knife River Construction, Western Traffic Control and Mountain West Holding Co. negligently failed to adequately construct and maintain traffic-control devices and signals.

The lawsuit asked for unspecified damages to be paid to Winter based on permanent injuries, mental pain and suffering, and the loss of capacity to enjoy life by Winter.