Blood alcohol test from Swan Boat Club crash fatalities to be presented in trial
The results of a blood alcohol test, taken of a driver after her vehicle crashed into a child's birthday party last spring in Monroe County, Michigan, can be presented during the upcoming trial, a judge ruled Friday.
The case involves charges against Marshella Chidester, 66, who is accused of drinking and driving just before the crash at Swan Boat Club in April 2024 in Berlin Township.
She is facing 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. The trial is currently set for March 3 at the Monroe County Courthouse. Judge Daniel White of the 38th Circuit Court previously denied a request to move the trial to another county.
The children who died from their injuries were Zayn Phillips and Alanah Phillips, two siblings who attended Flat Rock Community Schools. Nine additional people were taken to area hospitals; others received first aid at the scene.
Early in the investigation, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office said Chidester may have just left a nearby bar before the crash happened. Then at a court hearing, a Monroe County Sheriff's Office deputy testified that Chidester's blood alcohol content that day was 0.18. The legal limit in Michigan is 0.08.
In one of the motions decided Friday, defense attorney Bill Colovos sought to prevent the prosecution from using Chidester's blood alcohol test results from the day of the accident. He claimed that the evidence was handled improperly, which might have changed the results from the sample.
"I don't believe the blood was preserved properly," he said during the hearing.
White agreed with the prosecution that the question should be a matter to decide during trial. As explained in the hearing, those testing results are not expected to be presented until after several witnesses have already taken the stand.
"I expected it," Colovos said to reporters after the hearing about the decision. "It's a motion denied at this time. They still have to lay the proper foundation at the trial."
During Friday's hearing, the judge also heard arguments as to how state law would apply given that the crash happened on private property rather than a site that is normally open to the public. White ruled that the boat club would be considered generally accessible to the public, given that it was open by invitation.
Previous pretrial motions also included requests to dismiss three interviews Chidester had with law enforcement; which have been denied.
