Double homicide sentence modified for texting teen

The 15-year sentence for Justine Winter was modified by Flathead County District Court Judge Katherine Curtis on Oct. 3 following an Aug. 7 ruling by the Montana Supreme Court.

The 19-year-old former-Evergreen woman is serving a 15-year sentence for double homicide stemming from a 2009 collision north of Kalispell. Evidence in her trial included text messages to a boyfriend.

Winter was convicted in February 2011 of killing Columbia Falls residents Erin Thompson, 35, and her 13-year-old son, Caden Odell, by intentionally driving head-on into their vehicle on U.S. 93 near Church Drive. Thompson was pregnant at the time. Winter, who was 16, was severely injured in the crash.

On June 9, 2011, Curtis gave Winter two 30-year concurrent sentences, with 15 years suspended for each count and a net sentence of 15 years. Curtis committed Winter to the Montana Department of Corrections and stipulated that she “must serve at least one half of those fifteen years prior to becoming eligible for parole.”

Citing state law and precedent, however, the Montana Supreme Court ruled that “because the District Court did not sentence Winter to prison, it was without statutory authority to restrict her parole eligibility.” The high court also ruled that “a sentencing court lacks authority to subject parolees to conditions while on parole.”

The case was remanded to Flathead County District Court, where Curtis modified Winter’s sentence.

Curtis ruled on Oct. 3 that Winter’s sentence shall remain “in all respects as previously imposed with the exception that the court recommends that the defendant serve at least one-half of the sentence before being considered for parole and the conditions previously articulated as to parole are recommended to be imposed as conditions of probation.”