A woman accused of being drunk when she crashed her SUV into a birthday party at a Michigan boat club, killing two children, was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder.
Marshella Chidester's blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit to drive, according to evidence, though her lawyer questioned how the sample was handled and insisted that a leg problem caused her to press hard on the gas pedal last year.
Chidester, 67, was found guilty of second-degree murder and other charges. The jury in Monroe County court returned a verdict in less than two hours on the fourth day of trial. She faces a possible sentence of up to life in prison.
Security video showed an SUV zipping along a dusty, pitted road at 44 mph (71 kph) before crashing into the side of the boat club, near Lake Erie, last April.
Before the crash, “it was any kid’s dream birthday party,” Diane Medina, an adult guest who was seriously injured, told the jury. “It was just magical.”
Prosecutors in a final step played a video from inside Chidester's home that appeared to show her drinking wine earlier on the day of the crash. Her home is about 500 feet (152 meters) from the Swan Boat Club in Berlin Township, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Detroit.
Separately, there was no dispute that she had wine at Verna's Tavern that day.
“All the evidence shows the drink at Verna’s wasn’t her first, or last, drink of the day,” assistant prosecutor Ken Laurain told jurors.
Defense attorney Bill Colovos said Chidester, a former boat club commodore, had only a glass of wine with chili at the tavern.
“In America, in Michigan, you’re allowed to have a glass of wine,” Colovos said.
Alanah Phillips, 8, and her 4-year-old brother, Zayn Phillips, were killed. At the time, Sheriff Troy Goodnough said first responders found an “extremely chaotic” scene.
