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@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Swan Boat Club crash: Day 2 of trial for Monroe woman