Former Soddy Daisy Police Chief Mike Sneed
Two Soddy Daisy Police supervisors testified Tuesday that their jobs were threatened when they said they were going to alert the district attorney to a probe involving a key witness in the Justin Whaley case.
Lt. Jake Elrod and Capt. Eric Jenkins took the stand at a motion hearing seeking a new trial in the case in which the former EMT got a nine-year sentence for vehicular homicide.
Attorney Lee Davis said after the hearing, "Following testimony yesterday in the case involving Justin Whaley, Soddy Daisy Police Chief Billy Petty suspended Capt. Eric Jenkins and Lt. Jake Elrod with pay 'pending the outcome of this court case.' This suspension was directed by Soddy Daisy City Manager Burt Johnson, who linked the suspension directly to the officers' testimony in court."
The supervisors said they believed attorneys should know that Sgt. Jeremy Wright had been untruthful when he was questioned about allegedly showing a photo that included his penis to two young females.
Mike Sneed, who recently retired as Soddy Daisy Police Chief, said the alleged nude photo was never produced and the two females did not want to prosecute so he felt there was nothing to proceed on.
He said a finding of untruthfulness against a police officer "is something that would end a career."
Judge Boyd Patterson said, "There is clearly a split or fracture in the Soddy Daisy Police Department. I'm not saying who is right or wrong."
Attorney Davis argued that information about "untruthfulness" of a police officer who was a central figure in the case was grounds for a new trial.
Prosecutor Parker Garrett said Sgt. Wright's testimony about smelling alcohol on Whaley's breath was backed up by two other officers and the petition for a new trial should be denied.
Lt. Elrod said he was advised prior to the Whaley trial last October that several years back that Sgt. Wright had shown a photo of his penis to a girl about 18 or 19 and her juvenile cousin at the Planet Fitness gym.
He said Sgt. Wright had gone through a body building program and the photo showed before and after.
Lt. Elrod said he asked Sgt. Wright about the situation and he denied such a photo - only one that showed before and after from the waist up. However, he said Sgt. Wright went immediately to the office of Capt. Jenkins and admitted there was such a picture.
Lt. Elrod said he took the matter to Chief Sneed and was told to look into the matter. He said he then tried to talk to the two females, but only one would speak to him briefly on the phone.
The witness said the fact that Sgt. Wright went to Capt. Jenkins and said there was such a picture after telling him there wasn't meant he had "absolutely made a misrepresentation" during an investigation.
Lt. Elrod said he and Capt. Jenkins both believed the information needed to go to prosecutors and attorneys in the Whaley case, but he said Chief Sneed and City Manager Burt Johnson neither one took any action to move it forward. He said he was told that City Attorney Sam Elliott agreed with that assessment.
The witness said Chief Sneed told him that if he went forward he would be "perjuring yourself." Lt. Elrod said, "That made me fear for my job. I took that as a threat."
He said he and Capt. Jenkins and a detective went to City Manager Johnson on the issue. He said the city manager is the only official in Soddy Daisy who can hire and fire police personnel. He said the group did not hear back from Mr. Johnson. He said when they checked later he said he had been too busy on the budget to give it much thought.
Lt. Elrod said he felt "that we couldn't withhold evidence that might be needed by the defense. We felt that it needed to be told." He said it was felt the information should be forwarded to the DA before the Whaley trial, which was last October. But he said "things just stopped" after inaction by higher-ups at the Soddy Daisy Police Department.
Capt. Jenkins said when Sgt. Wright left Lt. Elrod's office after the photo issue was first brought up that Sgt. Wright told him, "What Jake don't know is there's another picture with my penis (showing)."
Capt. Jenkins said he was then shown a photo by Sgt. Wright in which the genital area was on display, but there was a black spot over the penis.
Capt. Jenkins said after he had told Lt. Elrod about the second photo that Sgt. Wright asked him, "Why did you rat me out?" He said he replied, "Because you lied."
He said he asked Sgt. Wright why he lied and he said, "I was scared."
Capt. Jenkins also said that Chief Sneed warned him about "perjuring yourself." He said he took that as "he was threatening me with a crime."
Capt. Jenkins said 26 days after getting no answer from City Manager Johnson he and Lt. Elrod made an appointment with the district attorney's office. He said they first spoke with Kevin Loper, who is over office operations.
He said prosecutor Loper then called District Attorney Coty Wamp into the meeting. He said as they told their account "they were visibly upset."
Capt. Jenkins said he is still concerned over losing his job. He said, "I have a wife and three kids."
He said he asked City Manager Johnson whether he would be fired and he was told, "It depends how much pressure I get after Tuesday (date of the hearing)."
Capt. Jenkins said, "It was very hard that we had to go down there. It was sad."
The hearing is to be continued on May 21 with Chief Sneed still on the witness stand.