Swan Boat Club crash trial: 8 witnesses describe 'chaos' as Marshella Chidester faces jury

MONROE COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - Marshella Chidester's Swan Boat Club trial got underway Monday with jury selection and testimony from those who witnessed the deadly Monroe County crash and aftermath.

Follow live updates of day two here.

The judge has ordered no streaming or publication of trial proceedings until after the jury is released each day. Updates will be published at the conclusion of court each day.

Court started at 8 a.m. with a large pool of jurors questioned. After more than three hours of questioning, a jury was seated around 11:30 a.m. Following jury selection, the afternoon started with opening statements before the prosecution began calling witnesses. 

Chidester, 67, is charged with murder and several other felonies for the April 20, 2024, crash that killed two children. 

3:36 p.m. - Another first responder takes the stand

Bodycam footage from Det. Madison Fleck, who was a road patrol deputy at the time, was also shown.

"It was chaos," Fleck said, before video of a destroyed Swan Boat Club was played to the court.

3:26 p.m. - Sergeant details interaction with Chidester

After calling people who witnessed the crash, the prosecution began calling law enforcement officers to the stand. This included Monroe County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Michael Bomia.

Bomia, the shift supervisor that day, responded to the boat club after receiving a call that a vehicle had gone through the building. When Bomia arrived, he spoke to attendees to determine who the driver was. Afterwards, he spoke with Chidester, who said she had drunk some wine.

Bomia's bodycam footage was shown in court.

3:19 p.m. - Witness testifies about pulling Chidester from vehicle 

Jason Wickland, who was at the club for his grandson's birthday party, said he shut off Chidester's vehicle and helped remove her after the crash.

"She was drunk," he testified, noting that he smelled alcohol.

Wickland said he then heard a baby crying and shifted his attention to assisting with removing a child that was stuck under Chidester's vehicle.

2:48 p.m. - Crash victims describe what happened

Two victims who were at the Swan Boat Club for their great-nephew's birthday party took the stand to describe what they witnessed and the injuries they sustained in the crash.

Denise Roberts and Patrica Raths, who are sisters, were both hit in the crash.

Roberts said she recalled about 50-60 people inside the boat club for the party, with about 25-30 of them being children.

The crash caused Roberts to lose consciousness. She said she had four fractured ribs and a fractured scapula, while Raths suffered a traumatic brain injury. Both women also said they now suffer from anxiety and PTSD.

Both Roberts and Raths said Chidester, who they did not know prior to that day, kept saying that she passed out and didn't know what happened.

2:22 p.m. - Former boat club leader takes stand

Jason Johnson, the former rear commodore of the club, testified that he wasn't at the boat club when the crash happened, but went there shortly after. Johnson was the person who gave law enforcement access to security video of the crash, and that video was shown to the courtroom while he was on the stand.

It included outside footage of people running after the crash, and the inside of the club as an SUV barreled through the building. 

2:13 p.m. - Neighbor describes aftermath of crash

The second witness called Monday was William Schmidt, a neighbor of the boat club who said he has known Chidester's family for most of his life.

Schmidt was home when the crash happened. He recorded cell phone video of the aftermath after hearing what he described as an explosion. He said he climbed through the hole in the side of the building and went inside.

"It looked like a war zone," Schmidt testified. "People were laying everywhere, mostly unconscious."

1:57 p.m. - Birthday party host testifies 

Kristen Sigler, a bartender at the Swan Boat Club, was the first witness called to the stand Monday. Sigler's son was celebrating his birthday at the boat club when Chidester crashed into the building.

While on the witness stand, Sigler described the chaos and the interaction she had with Chidester once she realized that she had crashed through the building.

"We got to the back of her car, I grabbed her, and I started yelling at her," she said.

While this was happening, someone yelled that a child was trapped under the vehicle, so Sigler said she told Chidester to pop the hatch to get a jack. She went on to testify that she could smell alcohol on Chidester as she asked where her husband, Don, was.

"So, at that point, I told her just to get the F away from me, and I threw her down," Sigler said.

Jury seated for Marshella Chidester's trial

After a little over three hours of questioning potential jurors, a jury is seated for the Swan Boat Club trial.

Defense attorney Bill Colovos said it was much sooner than he expected, noting that he was under the impression that 100 potential jurors were expected to be called both Monday and Tuesday.

He went on to say that picking a jury is one of the most important parts of the trial.

"I feel satisfied, and most importantly, my client feels satisfied with the jurors," Colovos said when the court broke for lunch.

With the case receiving such publicity, many questions asked by both the prosecution and Chidester's lawyer included what knowledge the potential jurors had about the case, and what they had read about it in the media and on social media.

Several potential jurors questioned said they had no knowledge of the case prior to showing up for jury duty, while others' experiences varied from reading about the case in passing on social media to following news reports about the case closely. Having background knowledge of the case wasn't an automatic disqualification, and some of the selected jurors knew some details heading into trial.

Colovos and the prosecution also focused heavily on potential jurors' experiences with police and the court system. All jurors were also asked if they have children and if that would impact their views, since the case involves two kids being killed.

One of the potential jurors dismissed included a woman who is a member of the Swan Boat Club. She said she knew Chidester and some of the people injured in the crash. Despite maintaining that she could judge the case solely based on evidence presented in court, the prosecution dismissed her after several rounds of questioning.

While some potential jurors lasted several rounds of questioning, several were dismissed quickly for the answers they provided. One juror let go included a man who said he had been hit by a drunk driver and grew up with an alcoholic father. Another juror was dismissed after she began crying as she entered the jury box. She said she had been involved in several court cases, and did not believe she would be able to fairly evaluate the case.

"Her life is in the hands of ultimately 12 jurors," Colovos said of his client, noting that Chidester is nervous about the outcome of the case.

2 kids killed in boat club crash

The backstory:

Two children, 8-year-old Alanah Phillips and 4-year-old Zayn Phillips, were killed after a vehicle barreled through the Swan Boat Club during a birthday party on April 20, 2024.

According to authorities, Chidester, 67, had a BAC of .18 when she drove her vehicle into the Berlin Township club.

Chidester was 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.

After the crash, Chidester told deputies that she didn't remember it happening. When asked how she was feeling on a scale of 0-10, with zero being sober and 10 being passed out drunk, Chidester responded that she was at seven. She was also heard telling the deputy that she "wouldn't want to drive," when asked if she felt she was OK to drive.

A deputy who testified during her preliminary exam said that Chidester failed several field sobriety tests, couldn't maintain her balance, had watery, bloodshot eyes, and smelled like alcohol.

Chidester told authorities that she had drunk one glass of wine at a nearby bar early in the day, a fact her attorney Bill Colovos said was confirmed during a search at that bar.

She also told the deputy that she had a seizure the month before the crash and was hospitalized for several days. 

Marshella Chidester's defense

What they're saying:

Colovos has maintained that the crash was a result of Chidester's medical condition, not alcohol. He has also argued that her blood sample was not properly handled and thus should not be admitted as evidence.

"It's based upon that they had faulty, 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," he said.

According to Colovos, the blood was allegedly not properly preserved and stored, which can cause it to ferment.

"It wasn't preserved properly by statute, by law," he said. "We really wish it would have been done right because then it would have showed what her real blood alcohol level was."

Colovos said the basis for his request comes from evidence presented during Chidester's preliminary examination last year. According to Colovos, an officer who handled the blood sample testified that he did not shake it after adding a preservative.

"He was supposed to shake it because that preservative is what keeps it from being instead of a .02 turns into a .18. if the preservative is not shaken," Colovos said in court Friday.

Colovos filed a motion requesting not to have the BAC results presented during trial.

The other side:

The prosecution argued that any concerns about BAC should be argued at trial. Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Daniel White agreed.

After the motion to suppress the BAC was denied, Colovos requested that the issue be addressed before jurors are in the courtroom. White declined this request.

The BAC is expected to be a big part of the trial, with Colovos previously saying that he will have an expert testify about how the blood sample was handled. 

How to watch Marshella Chidester's trial

The judge is not allowing Chidester's trial to be streamed. FOX 2 will publish the video of the trial at the conclusion of each day.

More Swan Boat Club crash coverage

• Marshella Chidester's BAC is admissible in court, judge rules
• Marshella Chidester's attorney claims her BAC was 'tainted'
• Judge rules Swan Boat Club crash evidence can be used in court
• Photos show Swan Boat Club crash aftermath

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