A Monroe County courtroom is once again focused on the deadly 2024 crash at the Swan Boat Club, as 67-year-old Marshella Chidester seeks a hearing that could determine whether she gets a new trial. Chidester was convicted last year on all nine charges, including second-degree murder, two counts of operating while intoxicated causing death, and five counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury, stemming from the crash that killed two children at a birthday party in Berlin Township.
The proceeding, known as a Ginther hearing, began Monday and continued into Tuesday, according to CBS News. Under the 1973 Michigan precedent that gives the hearing its name, a defendant seeking a new trial can use the proceeding to build a factual record, according to the State Appellate Defender Office. Judge Daniel White, who also presided over Chidester's sentencing in May 2025, is overseeing the hearing in Monroe County 38th Circuit Court.
From Trial Attorney to Appeal Attorney
Chidester switched legal counsel shortly after the guilty verdict, during her pre-sentence investigation, moving from trial attorney Bill Colovos to attorney James Warren Amberg. Colovos, who handled Chidester's trial, had said he expected the conviction to be appealed. Court records show Chidester also took part in a separate motion hearing last Friday as the post-conviction process moves forward.
The conviction Chidester is now challenging came in March 2025, after jury selection began that month. The case included a blood-alcohol reading and evidence that she had visited a nearby tavern before the crash.
Evidence at the Heart of the Original Trial
A reported blood-alcohol result of 0.18—more than twice the legal limit—was part of the case, while the defense argued that an officer had not shaken the sample after adding a preservative, the station's report noted. Law enforcement records indicated Chidester lived only a few hundred yards from the Swan Boat Club. Authorities identified Verna's Bar and Grill as a place Chidester had visited before the crash, according to FOX 2 Detroit.
The Crash That Devastated a Birthday Party
The vehicle Chidester was driving smashed into the Swan Boat Club building on April 20, 2024, traveling roughly 25 feet into the structure during a child's birthday party. Eight-year-old Alanah Phillips and 4-year-old Zayn Phillips, both students at Flat Rock Community Schools, were killed. In addition to the two fatalities, the crash injured 15 people inside the boat club, including one victim who suffered a traumatic brain injury and several children and adults with severe injuries, per CBS News. A community vigil was later held in Monroe County for the victims.
Under Michigan's 1998 Supreme Court ruling in People v. Goecke, prosecutors in drunk driving cases can secure a second-degree murder conviction by establishing malice, defined as intentionally setting an act in motion in wanton and willful disregard of the likelihood that it would cause death or great bodily harm, according to the Barone Defense Firm. Chidester was sentenced to 25 to 50 years, with the terms ordered to run concurrently.
Civil Suits and a Contested Venue Fight
Before trial, Judge White denied a defense motion to move proceedings out of Monroe County, ruling that an impartial jury could still be seated locally despite intense news coverage, even as defense counsel argued local media publicity had tainted the jury pool. Separately, Mariah Dodds, the mother of the two children killed and a survivor who was critically injured in the crash, filed a multi-plaintiff civil lawsuit against Chidester, Verna's Tavern, and the Swan Boat Club over the crash, according to FOX 2 Detroit. Dodds suffered critical injuries, and an older brother was also injured.
Hoodline previously covered the case when jury selection began in March 2025. The Ginther hearing is underway as Chidester pursues post-conviction relief. A civil lawsuit was also filed against her, the tavern, and the boat club.
