Jurors found a man guilty of vehicular homicide and drunk driving Friday in a 2018 wrong-way crash in Soddy-Daisy that killed one man.
Justin Whaley hit and killed James Brumlow on Highway 111 in July 2018 after missing his exit and turning around on the highway. Brumlow had been driving to work.
Whaley was found guilty of seven of the eight charges against him, including driving under the influence, reckless vehicular homicide and multiple counts of reckless driving.
Members of Brumlow's family sobbed and turned to hug each other after the first guilty decision was read, which revealed jurors believed Whaley was drunk at the time of the accident. The family wore green roses all four days of the trial, the color for drunk driving awareness.
Whaley was handcuffed and taken into custody after Friday's verdict was read. Turning to his wife and family members, he mouthed, "I love you."
His sentence will be determined at a later hearing. Vehicular homicide by intoxication is a felony punishable by between eight and 30 years in prison.
(READ MORE: Jurors hear opening arguments, testimony in 2018 fatal vehicle accident)
Prosecutors said Whaley was intoxicated at the time of the crash. A blood draw was taken four hours after the crash and found a blood alcohol concentration of .02%. He had been tasting bourbon the night before — at least six drinks — then slept for about three and a half hours before driving home early that morning, a friend testified Tuesday.
One expert testified that result can be used to calculate a BAC between .056% and .12% at the time of the collision. Another said a .02% result is too low to be reliably extrapolated.
Staff photo by Ellen Gerst / Justin Whaley is handcuffed and taken into custody Friday, Oct. 27 after a jury found him guilty of vehicular homicide by intoxication in the 2018 death of James Brumlow.Attorneys for Whaley said he was confused by the interchange with U.S. Highway 27 and believed he was turning into lanes going the other way. The crash was his fault, attorneys acknowledged.
If he was intoxicated, Whaley's lawyers argued, officers would have performed a field sobriety test at the scene of the crash or after Whaley was taken to the Soddy-Daisy Police Department. For up to three hours, Whaley was kept in a room at the department that also housed an intoxication meter, though it was not used while officers waited for a warrant to be approved to draw and test Whaley's blood.
Whaley previously worked as an EMT and was a volunteer reserve deputy with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. Multiple people responding to the crash reported knowing Whaley from that work.
He called 911 to report the crash and could be heard talking reassuringly to Brumlow, trapped in his car, in recordings played in court earlier this week.
On Thursday, during a closing argument, Whaley's attorney, Lee Davis, took out a copy of the jury's verdict forms, where they mark their decision. In pen, Davis marked "not guilty," then dated and signed the form with his own name. He placed the sheet under the courtroom's projector for jurors to see.
"This is a tragedy, an accident," Davis said. "Not a crime."
On Friday, jurors marked "not guilty" on just one charge, for failing to maintain a lane while driving.
Jurors were sequestered in a hotel during the trial to avoid media coverage. On Wednesday night, they were taken on a site visit to drive the route Whaley took the morning of the crash and see the friend's home where he had been drinking.
They deliberated for more than 10 hours between Thursday night and Friday.
Contact Ellen Gerst at egerst@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6319.