Appeals court reinstates conviction in Soddy-Daisy wrong-way crash

Staff file photo by Matt Hamilton / Justin Whaley talks to defense attorney Lee Davis during the opening day of Whaley's trial at the courts building in Chattanooga. The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals reversed a lower court's finding and reinstated Whaley's vehicular homicide and DUI convictions.

By Jules Feeney December 12, 2025 3 min read

A Tennessee criminal appeals court has reversed a lower court’s order and reinstated the conviction of a former Hamilton County EMT who was found guilty of vehicular homicide by intoxication and DUI charges in connection with a fatal wrong-way crash.

Justin Whaley, now 44, hit and killed James Brumlow, 36, in a head-on collision on Highway 111 in Soddy-Daisy in the early hours of July 3, 2018.

Last year, Whaley asked the same court that had overseen his original trial to vacate his conviction and give him a new trial. He argued that new information called into question the reliability of a responding officer’s testimony. Had his attorneys been able to present that evidence, he argued, a jury may have reached a different conclusion.

He also challenged the court’s decision to allow jurors to visit the site of the crash on Highway 111 and testimony extrapolating blood alcohol content from a sample that was taken four hours after the crash.