Hamilton County jury finds Justin Whaley guilty of 7 charges

HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) — After a long-awaited, four-day trial, a jury finally came to a verdict in the Justin Whaley case.

On Friday, October 27, the jury found former EMT Justin Whaley guilty of vehicular manslaughter by intoxication.

Whaley had eight counts against him, and the jury found him guilty of seven of those counts.

Trial began on Tuesday, October 24. It resumed Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. The jury did not reach a verdict until shortly after 5 p.m.

Sixteen witnesses appeared in court for this case.

The prosecution’s closing argument was that Whaley was intoxicated at the time of the 2018 fatal crash that killed James Brumlow.

The families of both Whaley and Brumlow were emotional during the hearing.

Brumlow’s family members cried as they felt justice had been reached for their lost relative.

Whaley’s family was distraught as the verdict came back guilty.

The jury began deliberations on Thursday night after the defense presented their evidence.

Jurors previously went to the scene of the crash on Wednesday night, at the intersection of Highway 111 and 27.

A grand jury had indicted Whaley at the beginning of 2019. They had accused him of driving drunk in the wrong direction on Highway 111.

The eight charges originally against him were for speeding, failure to yield right-of-way, failure to maintain lane, driving under the influence, vehicular homicide by intoxication, drivers to exercise due care, reckless driving and crossing highway divider or median.