Swan Boat Club crash: Judge denies request to move Marshella Chidester's case out of Monroe County

MONROE COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - Marshella Chidester's trial for the deadly Swan Boat Club crash will be held in Monroe County Circuit Court, a judge ruled Friday.

Judge Daniel White ruled on several motions, including a request to move the trial out of the county and put the trial on hold until a case involving Chidester's doctor concludes.

Chidester's attorney, Bill Colovos, also wants some evidence tossed. This request will be addressed at trial in March.

Swan Boat Club crash kills 2

The backstory:

Chidester, 67, 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 slamming her vehicle into the Monroe County boat club last year, killing Alanah Phillips and Zayn Phillips.

The crash also injured more than a dozen people.

After the April 20, 2024 crash, Chidester told Monroe County Sheriff's deputies that she had drunk some wine earlier in the day. She also said that she has seizures and takes medication for the condition.

"I thought I was driving up to the boat club, and evidently I was driving right into the building," she told the deputy while being questioned after the crash.

Chidester's blood alcohol level was .18, more than double the legal limit in Michigan, according to blood test results read during a preliminary exam. Chidester was bound over for trial in June.

The other side:

Before the BAC was released, Colovos argued that she was not drunk. According to Colovos, Chidester had been suffering from seizures since November, takes medication for the condition, and needed to stop driving for several months last fall due to seizures.

After the BAC was revealed, Colovos argued that his client shouldn't face murder charges since she did not intend to kill anyone.

"There was no intent by my client whatsoever," he said.

He also argued that her BAC results were tainted.

"Somebody that's at a .18, they've got some slurring going on. You can detect it right away," Colovos said. "The BAC, I think, is tainted, and if you take the BAC away, there is just nothing there."

Marshella Chidester's trial

Motions Filed:

Colovos wants Chidester's case moved out of Monroe County.

Additionally, because he has argued that Chidester's seizures contributed to the crash, he filed a motion to delay the trial since her doctor is facing unrelated criminal charges.

Dr. Ram Garg is currently facing charges stemming from a pill-mill he was allegedly running out of his Taylor office. According to the motion, Garg cannot testify in Chidester's trial because he has invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during his own case.

In that same motion, Colovos also argued that Garg, who was treating Chidester for neurological issues, was "grossly negligent." 

"Defense has now learned that it was gross negligence to have permitted and authorized the defendant to operate a motor vehicle due to her physical conditions and spasms it causes," Colovos wrote in a motion filed last month.

In addition to requesting a delay and a new court for the trial, a motion was also filed requesting to exclude statements Chidester made to authorities before she was read her Miranda Rights.

Prosecutors had until Jan. 10 to respond to the motion to move the trial and the motion to exclude evidence. The motion regarding the doctor was filed after that date was set at Chidester's last hearing.

What's next:

Chidester's trial is scheduled for March 3 in Monroe County Circuit Court.

Before that, she will be in court on Feb. 10 to address the request to toss some evidence. 

Watch FOX 2 News Live

Crime and Public SafetyMonroe County