maxwell battle and david stoft. according to the winters, the two assured the lawsuit, if she was found not guilty, would give them a better shot at an insurance reimbursement later. >> there was no intent of going for the estate, making that family endure more than they've already endured. >> but the optics were awful. >> oh, the timing could have been -- who knows -- better. >> you pick up the newspaper, you look at the blogs, you hear the radio and what you got was, those awful people, those disgusting, terrible people. what are they thinking, trying to sue the victims of this crime? >> that's what was portrayed. but the actual intent was not that. at all. >> all rise. district court is now in session. >> misunderstood or not, by the time justine winter's trial for deliberate homicide started in january 2011, the tide of public opinion had turned as bitter as a montana winter. the hearts of erin thompson's family, too, had toughened. and justine, who showed up in an almost childlike polka dot hair band certainly