Latest news with #Chidester
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Yahoo
Prosecution rests case against Monroe County woman charged in fatal Swan Boat Club crash
Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday morning against a Monroe County woman accused of crashing her SUV into Swan Boat Club last year, killing two young siblings and injuring others attending a child's birthday party. Twenty-seven witness testified since Monday, when the trial began for Marshella Chidester, 67, who is charged in the deaths of Zayn Phillips, 4, and his sister, Alanah Phillips, 8 and injuring others, some severely, in the April 20 crash. The boat club is in Newport, about 30 miles south of Detroit. Chidester is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of operating while intoxicated causing death and five counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury. Her defense is expected to argue that a medical condition contributed to the crash, saying Chidester has seizures and neuropathy. Prosecutors wrapped up their case after calling six witnesses Wednesday, including 14-year-old Edward Smothers, who suffered a broken leg and needed surgery and crutches. He testified that he attended the party with his aunt, Mariah Dodds, who gave emotional testimony in court Tuesday. Roe Mundy, the phlebotomist who took Chidester's lab tests at the hospital just over three hours after the crash that day, also testified. Jurors saw video Tuesday from a Monroe County deputy's body-worn camera showing the test kit and blood draw at the hospital. Under cross-examination, defense attorney Bill Colovos questioned why there was no doctor's name on a specific piece of paperwork. On redirect, Assistant Prosecutor Kenneth Laurain asked Mundy if she ever worked in a hospital not under the authority of a physician, to which she answered "no." She testified that she was not sure who the physician was in the emergency room that day because she was called down to the department to draw the blood and when she leaves, there is still paperwork being filled out. The other remaining witnesses focused on Chidester's blood samples handled by the Michigan State Police crime lab in Lansing. Tabitha Faust, a forensic scientist at the lab, testified the case "had a rush" and the samples were hand-delivered to prepare for alcohol testing right away. During her testimony, it was stated that Chidester's blood alcohol level was 0.18, with the legal limit being 0.08. Law enforcement officials previously said Chidester had a blood alcohol level of 0.18, more than twice the legal limit to be considered legally drunk in Michigan, at the time of the crash. The charges read in court Monday accused her of being impaired by a combination of alcohol and Gabapentin, an anticonvulsant and nerve pain medication. Colovos asked Faust: "Your testing is only as good as the subject matter delivered to you, correct?" To which, she answered "correct." Samantha Beauchamp, a supervisor in the toxicology unit at the lab, testified that Chidester's blood sample contained 0.13 micrograms per milliliter of Gabapentin. Contact Christina Hall: chall@ Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter. Support local journalism. Subscribe to the Free Press. Submit a letter to the editor at This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Prosecution rests case against woman in fatal Swan Boat Club crash
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Yahoo
Deputy: Driver in Swan Boat Club tragedy smelled of alcohol, had trouble with balance
Testimony about the demeanor of a Monroe County woman, including what she said and how she acted, after she drove her SUV through a wall at the Swan Boat Club and into a child's birthday party was a focus of day 2 Tuesday in her trial in Monroe County Circuit Court. Marshella Chidester, 67, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of operating while intoxicated causing death and five counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury in the April 20 incident at the boat club in Newport, about 30 miles south Detroit. Eight people, including a Frenchtown fire department captain and seven members of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, testified Tuesday morning with prosecutors showing video of Chidester's blood draw and the test kit at the hospital as well as an interview with a deputy as she sat in the back of a patrol car about 20-30 minutes after the crash. Deputy Steven Schmidt testified he could smell the odor of intoxicants on Chidester, that she had bloodshot, watery eyes and that she consented to sobriety tests. He told jurors that Chidester was having problems with balance when she got out of the patrol vehicle and used his arm to hold herself up as he walked her to the rear. He said Chidester told him she had neuropathy in her hands and feet. Zayn Phillips, 4, and his sister, Alanah, 8 were killed in the crash while attending another child's birthday party and numerous other people were injured, some severely. Law enforcement officials said previously that Chidester had a blood alcohol level of 0.18, more than twice the legal limit to be considered legally drunk, at the time of the crash. The charges read in court Monday accused her of being impaired by a combination of alcohol and Gabapentin, an anticonvulsant and nerve pain medication. Schmidt testified that when he conducted a horizontal gaze test, Chidester was not able to focus on his finger and she couldn't complete the test, adding "she was just staring directly at me." He said Chidester successfully recited the alphabet, but skipped numbers in counting backward from 100 to 88. He testified that she counted from 100 to 91, then up to 100. She skipped 88 and counted into the 70s, descending from 78 to 72. He arrested her and handcuffed her in front because she said she had a wrist injury from the crash. Schmidt testified he took Chidester to a hospital, where her blood was drawn shortly after 6:30 p.m., more than three hours after the crash. Schmidt testified that Chidester was cooperative and that he did not perform a Breathalyzer test on her because given the serious injuries "we potentially had ... I wanted to make sure we did a blood draw." Sheriff's Deputy Cody Carena testified that he interviewed Chidester, with video from his body-worn camera shown. He testified there was an odor of intoxicants from the back of the patrol vehicle and that she had bloodshot eyes. His body camera video showed him reading Chidester her Miranda rights and her saying: "I'm hoping no one was hurt." Chidester told Carena that she was taking Gabapentin and other medications. She told him she went to lunch at Verna's with some friends around noon, ate chili, a fish sandwich and had a glass of wine and came home. When asked if she remembered what happened, Chidester said in the video "No, not really." She told Carena that she has seizures, but was cleared to drive with a card in her purse, which she did not have in the back of the patrol vehicle. She is heard on the video telling him that her last seizure was in March and she was hospitalized for it. When asked if she has a lapse of memory when she has a seizure, she replied, "Yes." When asked on a scale of zero to 10, with zero being sober and 10 being passed-out drunk, where she was right now, Chidester replied "7." She's also heard saying in the video: "I wouldn't want to drive." Sheriff's Detective Sgt. Jeff Hooper testified that he obtained video from a search warrant at Chidester's home two days after the incident. Some video was shown in court, including showing Chidester walking down the stairs and away from home as well as her backing out her vehicle, with it curving before speeding forward down the road. Hooper testified that authorities learned through the video that Chidester was involved in another crash April 20, crashing "into her neighbor's truck with enough force to push it back over a fence." He also told jurors that she crashed into a small pine tree in front of the truck. She then drove about 550 feet to the boat club, where she crashed into the building. One juror was missing Tuesday, but it was not explained in court why she was not present. The jury was comprised of four men and nine women. Only 12 are needed for deliberations after testimony concludes. The trial is expected to last five to seven days, with dozens of possible witnesses. Prosecutors have called 16 witnesses so far including people who attended the party, some who were hurt, boat club members and first responders. Contact Christina Hall: chall@ Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter. Support local journalism. Subscribe to the Free Press. Submit a letter to the editor at This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Swan Boat Club crash: Day 2 of trial for Monroe woman
CBS News
04-03-2025
- CBS News
Jury seated as testimony begins in deadly Swan Boat Club crash case
Jury selection was completed Monday for the first day of the trial against Marshella Chidester. Chidester is accused of drinking and driving before a crash that killed two young siblings and injured several others at a birthday party last year at Swan Boat Club in Berlin Township. The 67-year-old is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of operating while intoxicated causing death and five counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury, according to online court records. The second-degree murder charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. On Monday, jurors heard opening statements and testimonies, including Christine Sigler, who was hosting a birthday party for her son at the boat club and the first witness called by the prosecution. Sigler, one of the head bartenders, testified she stepped outside to talk on the phone when she heard a sound, and "it looked like a bomb at that point." Sigler told the court that she saw Chidester and recognized her because she had previously seen her at the boat club. She said she went to the back of Chidester's car and started yelling at her when someone said that a child was under the car. She testified telling Chidester to open her trunk to get a jack and could smell alcohol on her. Defense attorney Bill Colovos says each of the charges has several elements that he believes the prosecution will be unable to prove. "Absolutely, her vehicle went through, and it went through 25 feet into it. It went through at 40 miles per hour, absolutely. But let's look at everything, and let's look at it one step at a time. And if all the elements are not proven, and I think two or three of the elements in each case isn't going to be proven, then you do what's justice as a jury," Colovos told reporters. The trial will continue at 8 a.m. on Tuesday in 38th District Court. Police say Chidester allegedly crashed 25 feet into a building, according to Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough. Alanah Phillips, 8, and her 4-year-old brother, Zayn Phillips, were attending the birthday party when the crash happened. Both died at the scene, according to authorities. Early in the investigation, the sheriff's office said Chidester may have left a bar before the crash happened. At a court hearing, a sheriff's deputy testified that her blood alcohol content that day was 0.18. The legal limit in Michigan is 0.08. At a Walker Hearing on Feb. 10, Judge Daniel White denied motions to dismiss three interviews Chidester did with law enforcement at the crash scene. Colovos said statements she gave at the crash scene were involuntarily made. On Feb. 21, Judge Daniel White denied a motion to exclude the results of her blood alcohol test taken after the crash. White also heard arguments as to how state law should apply since the crash happened on private property rather than a site that's normally open to the public. He ruled that the boat club would be considered generally accessible to the public and open by invitation.
CBS News
10-02-2025
- CBS News
Judge denies motion to suppress evidence in deadly Swan Boat Club crash case
MONROE, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - A 66-year-old woman accused of driving drunk and crashing into a birthday party at the Swan Boat Club in Berlin Township in April 2024, killing two children and injuring several others, was in court Monday. Monday's Walker Hearing was a final effort for the defense to suppress statements they say were involuntarily made while defendant Marshella Chidester was being questioned at the scene last April. Chidester is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of operating while intoxicated causing a death, and four counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury. Chidester was in court for Monday's hearing. Her attorney, Bill Colovos, filed motions to dismiss three interviews she did with law enforcement, and the judge denied all three. Judge Daniel White of the 38th Circuit Court ruled that the first interview was investigatory in nature, similar to the questions an officer would ask after pulling someone over for a traffic stop, and didn't require reading of Miranda rights. White said the second interview, even with conduct in question due to the deputy having his body cam audio turned off, won't be suppressed because there wasn't any audio anyway. The motion to suppress the third interview was based on Chidester telling a deputy, quote, "No, I'm good," when asked if she wanted to talk to the officer. The deputy followed up to clarify with her response before she eventually consented to speak with an officer. He gave his reasoning after dismissing the third motion. "A waiver can be making an uncoerced statement. I find these statements were voluntarily, knowingly, intelligently made, that she was advised to rights, that she knowingly waived those rights, and accordingly the motion to suppress those matters is denied," said White. While the prosecution will still be able to use these statements at trial, the defense filed a motion to keep them from using what could be considered the most important piece of evidence, Chidester's blood alcohol test results. "When they took the blood, when they were supposed to preserve the blood when they transported the blood, and when the blood was tested, all of it was faulty. I don't just say that lightly; I've been doing it 35 years; there's a lot of flaws there," said Colovos. Colovos claims handling of this evidence could have raised the amount of alcohol in that sample. "If you don't have a proper preservative in it, then what happens is that it starts fermenting and it starts going up. Where you could be a .02 could all the sudden become a .18 or a .20 because it's fermenting for days," he said. A hearing on this evidence is set for Feb. 21. Chidester's trial is scheduled to start on March 3.
