A 19-year-old Evergreen woman serving a 15-year sentence for double homicide in a 2009 collision north of Kalispell is challenging the outcome of her trial.

Justine Winter filed a petition for post-conviction relief on Monday, alleging her counsel during her trial and in her appeal were ineffective and that Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan failed to disclose evidence.

Winter was convicted in February 2011 of murdering a pregnant woman and her 13-year-old son by intentionally driving head-on into their vehicle on March 19, 2009, north of Kalispell.

Erin Thompson, 35, and her son, Caden Odell, died in the crash.

Winter, who was 16 at the time, was severely injured in the crash.

In her recent filing in Flathead District Court, Winter cites past case law but does not offer specifics behind the arguments of ineffective assistance, with the exception of alleging that one of her lawyers, David Stufft, was ineffective “for failing to preserve the right of appeal.”

Stufft and Maxwell Battle represented Winter during her murder trial.

Stufft later filed an appeal of her conviction, but that appeal never got off the ground as Stufft withdrew from the case, saying he was unable to finance the appeal on a pro bono basis. He requested that the Montana Supreme Court appoint an attorney for Winter.

Winter also accuses Corrigan of failure to disclose material evidence. “There is a reasonable probability that the result would have been different had the evidence been disclosed to the defendant,” her court filing states. She does not. however, say what that evidence was.

Winter wants the state to appoint her a new lawyer, set an evidentiary hearing and “grant post-conviction relief and any other relief” to which she is entitled.

Winter is serving her sentence at the Montana Women’s Prison in Billings. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 15 years of probation. At the earliest, Winter would be eligible for parole in December 2018 after serving half of her prison sentence.

A key part of her trial in early 2011 involved a series of text messages sent during the 30 minutes preceding the crash to a teen-age boyfriend with whom Winter had just argued. Among them was a text stating “if i won, I would have you. And I wouldn’t crash my car,” and “that’s why i am going to wreck my car.”

Her vehicle was traveling at 85 mph when it hit Thompson’s vehicle.

Winter’s attorneys in the trial argued that it was Thompson who swerved into Winter’s lane and that the text messages shouldn’t be taken into consideration since Winter wasn’t really suicidal.

Winter still maintains that the crash was an accident, but says she does not remember the incident because of brain trauma she suffered.

Before the trial, Winter’s lawyers filed a lawsuit against Thompson’s estate and the contractors and construction company who were working on that stretch of highway.

The lawsuit was dropped after the conviction.

 A request for a new trial alleging Winter’s rights of due process were violated was denied by Flathead District Judge Katherine Curtis, who at the time wrote that Winter received a fair trial.

“The interests of justice, the law, and the weight of the evidence do not justify or warrant a new trial or modification of the verdict,” Curtis wrote in a 20-page ruling.

A status conference related to Winter’s case is scheduled for Oct. 3 in Flathead District Court.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.