all. it was a way of exercising power and control in the relationship to make that kind of threat. but it was always clear that it was never meant. what would justine winter say about what happened here that night. she did not testify on the advice of attorneys and her family and of course that was a perfect right. but there was another reason, to. justine suffered a brain injury in that crash so her recollection of the last few days leading up to the crash and then at itself, here, she couldn t remember. she is charged with a crime about which her memory is a complete blank. so then, how could the jury now that justine knowingly crossed the centerline having decided to commit suicide by hitting the other car? the question they put to the prosecutor. in order to draw that
collision. here again, is keith morrison. the sorrow ran deep in montana s flathead valley. deep and wide, the whole valley, in fact the country heard about the cat crash that killed cayden and aaron and her unborn child. and heard a strange and disturbing story that 16 year old justine winter took deadly aim at iran s oncoming car, crossed the centerline, and plowed right into them. on purpose. shocking? oh yes. as was the alleged reason. justine said to police, was trying to commit suicide. how did they know? they found the evidence on justine s phone, they said. text messages which she wrote herself and which ones county
what happened out there what happened out there was an accident. including where the crash occurred. remember the prosecution experts said there was no doubt justine crossed the centerline and veered into erin thompson s lane causing the crash. but a forensic engineer hired by the defense said his research turned that finding on its head. he claimed it was aaron who drove out of her lane in that construction zone and struck justine. and the defense went further claiming that slap mark near the 85 mile mark of the speedometer of justine s car was planted there by investigators. that the black box that measured speed was plain wrong. that justine always wore her seatbelt. and finally, a psychologist said what a lot of experts said. but a spat with a boy wasn t enough to lead to a suicide attempt. and those tax, they should not be considered suicide know at
hair band certainly didn t look the part of an accused killer facing 200 years behind bars, but there she was. with the two families just a few feet away she watched investigators testify to a certainty that it was justine s pontiac grand am that crossed the centerline. you can see all this debris from the initial impact of the crash. slamming into erin subaru so hard but it was driven backward into the highway barrier and crash reconstruction disagreed. justine winter s car encroached into the northbound lane striking mrs. thompson s vehicle. but what evidence was there that justine had done it, as the law says, purposefully? investigators pulled the so-called black box out of justine s pony i can analyze the data. they found another sign that point to suicide. she had taken off her seatbelt.
and as every single one of you came out here today when heartbreaking. i just hope that you guys will be able to forgive but i will never be able to say that i intentionally crossed the centerline wanting to take three lives from all of you. with a but before the judge allowed before the judge allowed justine to leave the witness stand the prosecutors asked a question on behalf of the victims families. a question that froze the courtroom. what they want to hear from you for a long time is i m sorry. can you tell them that? go i m sorry for your loss, but i cannot win and know what you mean by you want me to say