Whaley denied appellate bond as appeal effort continues

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – A former Hamilton County EMT convicted of vehicular manslaughter by intoxication made a court appearance Monday to ask for an appellate bond.

Justin Whaley was sentenced to nine years in prison for the July 2018 death of James Brumlow.

Whaley was driving the wrong way at the Highway 27/111 intersection in Soddy-Daisy when he fatally struck Brumlow.

Justin Whaley testifying in court and seeking an appellate bond.

Whaley took the stand Monday to plead his case to a judge that he should be allowed to post bond as he seeks a new trial.

His defense attorney, Lee Davis, said, “I want you to speak directly to that issue to the court. Would you ever attempt to flee your obligations to this court?”

Whaley responded, “No sir. My honor means everything, and this is my home, this is where my business, this is where I built my life and I am not fleeing that, not for anything.”

Whaley’s defense attorney Lee Davis is questioning the testimony of a Soddy-Daisy Police officer, Jeremy Wright, from the initial criminal trial back in October.

Davis says he was the subject of an internal affairs investigation right before that trial, where he testified to why a breathalyzer test was not immediately conducted on Whaley that morning.

Wright back in the October trial testified, “I was under the understanding that it was an ongoing investigation, I wasn’t real clear on why, why, they told me to release him.”

Davis argued that while this appeal process is heard, Whaley should have received an appellate bond.

He said, “Whereas past behaviors don’t absolutely guarantee of future actions, it is a pretty good indicator. He has no criminal record coming into this court.”

Prosecutor Parker Garrett argued that Whaley’s actions override the possibility of a bond.

He said, “While there’s not a pattern of behavior that we see from the defendant, he has been convicted of killing one person.”

Hamilton County Judge Boyd Patterson sided with the prosecution.

Judge Patterson said, “He does have the resources that if he were to make an easy decision [to flee] that’s it’s not a hypothetical scenario that he might go to prison anymore, that is his sentence.”

Whaley is still in custody at this time and on the hook for that nine-year prison sentence.

There will be another hearing in a few weeks to further discuss the appeal process.