Entitlement Parenting: Another Shining Example of What is Reaped

Quote

Winter gets 15-year sentence

By ERIC SCHWARTZ/Daily Inter Lake | Posted: Monday, June 6, 2011 1:51 pm

Family and friends of a pregnant Columbia Falls woman and her teenage son killed in a 2009 car crash fervently requested that the young woman convicted of murdering them apologize during a sentencing hearing Monday in Flathead District Court.

When given a chance, 18-year-old Evergreen resident Justine Winter seemed to stop short of accepting full responsibility.

"I'm sorry for your loss but I don't know what you mean [when you say] you want me to say I'm sorry," Winter said in response to questioning from County Attorney Ed Corrigan.

District Judge Katherine Curtis later sentenced Winter to 15 years in custody of the Montana Department of Corrections with a mandate that she serve at least half of that sentence before becoming eligible for parole. The Department of Corrections will evaluate Winter and determine where the sentence is carried out, whether in prison or some other form of supervision.

Winter's sentencing Monday for two counts of deliberate homicide came two days after she graduated with honors from Glacier High School. She did not attend graduation because she was in jail.

Curtis - who issued two concurrent 30-year sentences but suspended 15 years of each - said she considered the pain and suffering brought on by Winter's actions, but also had to take into account Winter's young age and volatile mental state at the time of the fatal crash.

"I do not believe that Justine needs to be on probation until she is 68 years old," Curtis said.

Curtis heaped praise on the families of 35-year-old Erin Thompson and her 13-year-old son Caden Vincent Odell, who were killed when Winter, driving 85 miles per hour, intentionally crossed the center of U.S. 93 north of Kalispell on March 19, 2009, in an apparent suicide attempt.

Addressing the portion of the courtroom filled with friends, family and supporters of the victims, Curtis said she found their "courage and compassion to be remarkable."

Family and close friends who testified Monday offered the possibility of forgiveness to Winter - but asked her to acknowledge her responsibility for the deaths.

"It's not difficult to believe that they were everything you described them to be," Curtis said of the victims.

Curtis also commented on Winter's continued refusal to accept responsibility for the crash. She said she understands how difficult it must be for the family to be faced with Winter's apparent inability to admit the deaths were her fault.

"The time has passed for debate on the subject of what happened," Curtis said.

Winter's attorneys David Stufft and Maxwell Battle argued during the two-week trial in late March and early February that it was Thompson's vehicle that crossed over into Winter's lane.

The theory was discredited by law enforcement officials, prosecutors, multiple crash reconstruction experts and an eyewitness.

But Winter - both in a written statement and during her testimony Monday - appeared to maintain her belief that it was an accident.

She acknowledged under questioning from Stufft that she had been advised not to speak to the family of Thompson and Odell for legal reasons. She said she has wanted to talk to them since September 2009.

"I just want you guys to know that you may feel I don't take accountability but it's not accountability I need to take," she said. "It's, it's - I don't know what it is."

Winter said she hoped the family of her victims would "be able to forgive the situation and be able to move past it" while "making it a learning experience for everyone."

"I know that we will never know and that is the worst part about it - that we will never know," Winter said.

Caden Odell's father, Craig Odell, provided intense testimony when called by prosecutors, staring directly at Winter and saying "You did it," then allowing a long pause.

"You did it," he said again, still glaring at Winter. "I hope some day you will own it. I don't want to see you spend your life in prison."

Echoing a recurring theme presented by family and friends of Caden Odell and Erin Thompson, he said Winter lived for a reason.

"And it's not to live in denial," he said. "It is not to live as a victim. It is to accept what you've done."

Stufft said Winter suffered brain damage during the crash, perhaps accounting for occasional smiles during her testimony.

Erin Thompson's husband, Jason Thompson, said his family has reserved a place in their hearts for Winter. He said he has chosen to believe that Winter did not intend to kill his wife, stepson and unborn child, but that it appeared she was allowing her attorneys to think for her instead of showing remorse.

"It's just time to accept the facts and the truth that your actions alone led to the deaths of my entire family," Thompson said.

He said the most important thing to do when you have harmed someone is to apologize.

"Even in an impulsive, heartbroken moment you can forever change people's lives," Thompson said. "And when you do so, the world has to know there is a consequence."

Erin Thompson's father, Vince Johnson, described how the decision of an "emotionally distraught teenage girl" had forever changed his life. He said he isn't capable of describing his anguish over the loss.

Thompson's brother-in-law David Young also addressed Winter directly, saying that it appears she considers herself a victim. He recalled that in her own statement, she regarded her story as one of "miraculous survival."

"You did so much more than just miraculously survive a car crash," he said. "You took two vibrant, beautiful people from this earth."

Deputy County Attorney Lori Adams held a poster-sized photo of a smiling and jubilant Odell holding a puppy.

"Who would have ever guessed that his life would be so senselessly taken," he said.

Young said that his family has felt compassion for the Winters since the immediate aftermath of the crash, prompting Winter to cry as she sat beside her two attorneys.

Amber Young, Thompson's sister, spoke longer than any other family member. She began by speaking to Winter directly.

"I wish that you had the blessing of having a sister, Justine," Amber Young said. "She was my heart."

Amber Young described her sister as her soul twin and best friend. She told Winter she had planned to grow old with Erin Thompson, live nearby and raise their families together. She was only a year away from that goal when the crash claimed her sister's life, she said.

"While you may not have planned to kill three people, that is what your actions caused," she said.

Instead of an apology, Amber Young recalled that the family was served with a lawsuit alleging that Erin Thompson had caused the crash. Winter's attorneys did not withdraw the lawsuit until after the guilty verdicts in February.

She described the pain brought on by attending the trial and the dozens of legal maneuvers that preceded and followed it, as well as the suffering caused by the display of photographs showing a deceased Erin Thompson during the trial.

"If I were in your shoes, it would eat me alive to not apologize," Amber Young said.

Thad Johnson, Erin Thompson's brother, said he was thankful the legal ordeal was coming to an end.

He theorized that Winter's parents had failed to tell her the truth about what happened on March 19, 2009. Winter has said she has no memory of the crash. Her attorneys said she suffered severe brain damage.

Thad Johnson, like others in his family, indicated he would like to work with Winter so she can discover the truth of the fatal crash. First, he said, she should be held accountable.

"I'd be happy to work with you after that to try and make a positive out of this story," Thad Johnson said.

Diana Johnson described her daughter as a kind and caring woman who had a gift for seeing the best in others.

"Her primary purpose in life was to spread love, and she did that well," Diana Johnson said.

She said that Erin Thompson's baby would now be 20 months old had the crash not occurred, and that the baby would now be saying names and bringing joy to the family.

"No one is unjustly accusing you," she said. "The facts are what they are."

Stufft called Justine Winter's family to the stand when given a chance to present his own witnesses.

Her mother, Mary Winter, looked toward the families of Thompson and Odell and said they have been in her family's hearts since the night of the crash. She reiterated her stance that no one knows for sure what events preceded the fatal collision, but offered remorse on behalf of her family.

"She is sorry," she said. "And we are sorry from the bottom of our hearts. We feel it every day."

Randy Winter, Justine's father, supported Mary Winter's testimony.

"One life saved would be a profound blessing," he said. "As the doctors have said, she is one in a thousand with a big heart and a will to survive."

Corrigan recommended a 40-year Department of Corrections sentence for Winter.

"We are required to hold Justine accountable for her actions regardless of whether or not she remembered that night," he said.

Stufft said Winter was an individual who had never caused harm to anyone previously. He described her as a good student and a leader.

He said Winter is "small and petite and is affected by brain trauma" while arguing against a prison sentence. He said she was recently assaulted in the Flathead County Detention Center.

"This leads us to know what is going to happen to her if she is sent to prison even for a day," Stufft said, later adding "She will not be the same kind of person that went into the system. She will become hardened."

Another hearing will be held to determine what, if any, restitution Winter will be required to pay the victims' families.

Quote

Accused teen sues dead woman’s estate

LYNNETTE HINTZE/Daily Inter Lake | Posted: Sunday, August 1, 2010 2:00 am

In an unusual legal maneuver, Justine Winter — the Evergreen teenager charged with deliberate homicide in the traffic deaths of Erin Thompson and her 13-year-old son — has sued Thompson’s estate and the construction company that built the U.S. 93 overpass at Church Drive where the accident occurred.

Winter, 17, with her father, Randy Winter, filed the lawsuit in Flathead County District Court July 15 against Knife River Corp., Western Traffic Control Inc., Mountain West Holding Co. and the estate of Erin Thompson. The complaint lists Thompson’s husband, Jason Thompson, as personal representative of the estate.

The lawsuit was filed in District Judge Katherine Curtis’ court. Curtis recently presided over a preliminary trial for Winter and has yet to rule whether she will face trial in juvenile or adult court. Winter was charged as an adult.

Winter alleges that Thompson, of Columbia Falls, negligently operated her vehicle in a manner that caused it to collide with Winter’s vehicle on U.S. 93 in the vicinity of the Church Drive overpass bridge.

The allegation flies in the face of the prosecution’s stand that Winter deliberately drove her car into oncoming traffic in an apparent suicide attempt.

The accident occurred on March 19, 2009, as Thompson (four months pregnant at the time) and her son, Caden Odell, were on their way home from a middle-school choral concert.

Court records indicate Winter was southbound when her Pontiac Grand Am crossed the centerline and struck Thompson’s northbound Subaru Forest head-on at a speed of 85 mph.

Winter further alleges that Knife River, which was in charge of the overpass construction, along with Western Traffic Control and Mountain West Holding Co., negligently failed to adequately construct and maintain traffic-control devices and signals, including lighting, lane delineators and reflective markings. The area wasn’t properly marked or striped, the lawsuit claims.

Those assertions follow testimony at the preliminary trial by defense witness Scott A. Curry, a self-employed engineer, who testified there were no stripes or fog lines on the bridge when the collision occurred based on photos taken by the state Department of Transportation. Curry also maintained there is no evidence that Winter’s vehicle was in the northbound lane when it crashed.

Scrapes and “scrubs” in the southbound lane on the overpass “had to be made by [Winter’s] Grand Am,” Curry testified.

The lawsuit notes that Winter suffered permanent and continuing injuries, along with mental pain and suffering and the loss of capacity to enjoy life. It cites future loss of income and past, present and future medical expenses. Winter is seeking a judgment against the defendants for damages, costs, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest and other relief deemed appropriate.

A key issue in the case is the allegation — based on several text messages just before the crash — that Winters intentionally crashed into Thompson to commit suicide.

Flathead County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ernie Freebury, who served as coroner for the accident, testified at the preliminary trial that it’s reasonable to conclude the crash was intentional based on inspection of the speedometer of Winter’s vehicle that indicated she was traveling 85 mph, and that the vehicle’s brakes weren’t applied until one second before deployment of the air bags.

A forensic linguist for the defense testified that Winter likely didn’t mean to kill herself when she texted her boyfriend about intentionally crashing her car.

The deaths of Erin Thompson and her son provoked an emotional community response.

At a memorial service in March 2009 attended by hundreds of people, they were remembered as “spiritual giants” who added substance to every life they touched.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com

Quote
StudioFiftyFour
So this was a suicide attempt?

I think she should be strapped into the electric chair and given her original wish.

Quote
the noodler
When I was 17, I was pretty emotional and sometimes stupid when emotional, especially when it involved my romantic interest at the time. Which, I think, is why I was only allowed to drive a car that could maybe hit 55 on the downhill run of Pike's Peak with the pedal to the metal.

I am tired of hearing about kids dying (or causing someone else's death) in these cars their PARENTS buy them because "we want Bratleigh to have a new, SAFE car". Yea. So she'll live when she slams it into someone else because she got a text from her friend that saw Emo Eddy talking to Gothic Genoa (that's a hard G in Genoa, not like a soft G as in the salami, but I digress...)

Quote
Belgianmeth
17 year old brain damaged kids don't decide to sue people, attorneys do.

Retrograde amnesia due to physical trauma can cover hours or even days. She may have no recollection of the accident, the drive, the fight with her boyfriend.
Waking up with serious injuries, being detained, sentenced to 15 years for something she doesn't remember doing, and maybe can't imagine being capable of.

You say she won't accept responsibility. Without recollection, she can only guess as to the events that night. Her boyfriend testified he didn't take her messages seriously because he got used to such threats whenever they had a fight. If she didn't attempt to kill herself before, why would she believe this time had been different, and not an unfortunate accident due to her reckless driving? There is no conclusive evidence that she intentionally drove into the other car, maybe she was looking at her mobile instead of the road.

We know texting while driving causes accidents, and we know she had a history of suicide threats but not of actual attempts. Seems more likely the crash was unintended (but for which she obviously was criminally responsible, given the speeding and texting) rather than a failed suicide.

I never understood America where you can drive a car at 16 but cannot drink a beer before 21. And kids being tried as adults. Where's the logic in that, responsibilities without the rights?

Quote
kidlesskim
Since the little bitch wasn't brain damaged when she caused the accident then I don't think it should be a consideration AT ALL in her sentencing. There are plenty of tards in prisons across the globe, so she should fit right in nicely.