Several officers testify they were threatened in Whaley appeal hearing

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – The attorney for a former Hamilton County EMT continues to argue his client should get a retrial. 

Justin Whaley was convicted of vehicular homicide by intoxication in the 2018 death of James Brumlow in Soddy-Daisy and sentenced to nine years in prison earlier this year.

However, his attorney Lee Davis says one of the Soddy-Daisy police officers who testified in his trial, Sergeant Jeremy Wright, did not disclose he had been the subject of an internal affairs investigation. 

Soddy-Daisy Police Lieutenant Jake Elrod and Captain Eric Jenkins were both suspended with pay in the wake of testimony they provided at a hearing last month.

“You feel you were doing so at some risk to your job?” Attorney Davis asked Lt. Elrod. 

Lt. Elrod responded, “Oh absolutely, yes sir. I felt like when I testified the other day, my job was threatened and as a result, we were suspended with pay after we testified in court.”

During the trial last fall, Sgt. Wright testified he failed to breathalyze Whaley until four hours after the crash took place.

Testimony revealed the nature of this investigation involved Wright sending unwanted nude photographs to a woman among other sexual misconduct claims, as she filed a complaint against him.

Other officers testified that Wright lied about the nature of the photos.

“During the investigation, he lied to Lt. Elrod about a picture that he showed,” Capt. Jenkins testified.

Whaley’s attorney asked, “And then he admitted that to you?”

Capt. Jenkins then responded, “He admitted that to me and then went back on a follow-up interview, a different picture, one that has a (private part) in it.”

He further corroborated the pressure he felt from his bosses.

Jenkins testified, “I went into [retired Soddy-Daisy Police Chief] Mike Sneed’s office. I had the subpoena, “I’ve been subpoenaed to the Justin Whaley trial,” and I said, “They have to be aware of this information that he lied during an investigation.” and he told me, “If you go down there, I’ll call [Hamilton County District Attorney] Coty [Wamp] and say you perjure yourself.”

Sneed denied this. Davis asked, “Two officers were subpoenaed in this trial and told you they were going to come forward and disclose?”

Sneed responded, “They did not.”

“They did not come forward to tell you that?” Davis prodded. 

But Sneed insisted, “No they did, they came to me to ask what to say if they were asked about this investigation.”

Davis argued this information not being available during the trial affected his defense of Whaley, and that he would have done things differently in the trial.

Davis argued to Hamilton County Judge Boyd Patterson, “If I had known this information, it would have effected every aspect of this case, and we would have presented our case in an entirely different way that could have yielded a different jury result.”

Meanwhile, prosecutor Parker Garrett argued that Wright’s testimony doesn’t change the facts of the case.

“Officer Wright’s testimony doesn’t change that Whaley drank bourbon the night before and chose to drive intoxicated, causing a fatal crash,” Garrett argued.

Judge Patterson says he will review the arguments and come to a decision before the next hearing in this case in August.

If he grants the motion, Whaley could see a new trial.

Soddy-Daisy City Manager Burt Johnson told News 12 they are not commenting on Wednesday’s testimony regarding the Soddy-Daisy Police Department.