A former reserve deputy will hear more motions on September 25 after the first set of motions revealed more questions than answers.
Justin Whaley drove the wrong way on a highway in 2018, striking and killing James Brumlow when their cars collided. Whaley was allegedly intoxicated when the accident occurred.
With Mr.
Brumlow’s family in the gallery, the two sides debated the timing of the blood draw results. The test was administered four hours after a dozen police, three EMS, and one firefighter were on the scene.
According to the defense attorney, the results of the blood draw should be disregarded by the court for this reason. While Whaley was asked to, and he agreed to, do a blood test when asked, the actual test wasn’t administered until a long delay.
His attorney argued that because the alcohol level in his blood would have changed in the hours in between, the results of the test had to rely on extrapolated information. Whaley’s defense attorney said “the defendant had no ability to preserve the evidence in his body. This puts a court in a speculative place.”
On the other side, the prosecution argued that the authorities attempted to administer a test long before the four hours had expired. However, the fire department, who would’ve done the test, refused to. Because Whaley was a former EMS, they felt there would be a conflict of interest. By the time they were able to have an unbiased party to administer the blood draw, several hours had passed.
To summarize, one side said there was a good reason for the delay, while the other said there was not a good reason for the delay of the blood draw. Because of these unanswered questions, the judge decided a second part of the motion hearing would need to take place, where witnesses from the scene will have a chance to tell the court about the events of that day.
The next motion hearing will continue on Sept. 25, and will start at 11 a.m.