Swan Boat Club crash: Next court date set for suspect Marshella Chidester
MONROE COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - A woman who authorities say was drunk when she slammed into a Monroe County boat club and killed two children earlier this year, is due in court again in October.
Marshella Chidester was bound over for trial in June for the April 20 crash that killed 8-year-old Alanah Phillips and 5-year-old Zayn Phillips and left more than a dozen other people hurt.
She appeared in court Friday, where a judge granted her attorney three weeks to file motions regarding experts and witnesses he would like to call during trial. The prosecution has four weeks to respond.
Chidester, 66, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of operating while intoxicated causing death, and four counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury. Her blood alcohol level was .18, more than double the legal limit in Michigan, according to blood test results read during a preliminary exam.
Marshella Chidester
Though evidence showed she was drunk, her attorney Bill Colovos argued that she shouldn't be charged with second-degree murder because she didn't intend to kill anyone.
"There was no intent by my client whatsoever," he said during the prelim.
Swan Boat Club crash suspect Marshella Chidester's BAC was more than double legal limit
Marshella Chidester, the driver who crashed into the Swan Boat Club and killed two children in April, had a blood alcohol level more than double the legal limit in Michigan.
However, the judge refuted this claim and ordered Chidester to trial after hearing evidence from both Monroe County Sheriff's deputies and victims of the crash.
Security video showed Chidester walking out of her home, which is next door to the Berlin Township building, before getting into her vehicle and slamming into the club while a children's birthday party was being held. Video also showed the crash and the aftermath.
Chidester told investigators she had no memory of the crash.