One Wiley brother set free, the other to stay in custody
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Her decision acquitted G.W. Wiley, 18, of all juvenile charges and will likely mean his arrest record will be erased. His younger brother, Brandon Wiley, 15, will remain in state custody pending a disposition hearing after he was reportedly found delinquent to the act of aggravated assault, a reduced charge from the original charge of attempted first-degree murder. The younger Wiley remains under mental evaluation.
The ruling comes after a hearing last week regarding the Dec. 13 attack on their father, Dr. Gregory Wiley, at the family’s Francis Ferry Road home. Dr. Wiley suffered a skull fracture after being struck in the head with a hammer wielded by his younger son.
Prosecutors charged the boys with attempted first-degree murder, claiming the teens conspired to kill their father. However, the defense for Brandon Wiley said he hit his father with a hammer because his father had pushed his older brother down the stairs during an altercation. G.W. Wiley’s defense said the 18-year-old had nothing to do with the hammer assault. Dr. Wiley had asked for leniency for his sons in recent court hearings.
The court ruling was exactly what Public Defender Dan Bryant had asked for in last week’s hearing when he told the court the offense constituted aggravated assault – not attempted murder. Bryant said it will now be up to the judge to decide his client’s fate.
“She could let him go home or commit him to youth services,” Bryant said.
Bryant noted that he has found his client to be a clean-cut teen during his meetings with him.
“In my dealings with him, he’s been very nice. He’s no thug,” Bryant said.
Billy Tollison, attorney for G.W. Wiley, said his client’s family wept when he phoned them with the news.
“They were really ecstatic,” Tollison said. “I think there’s problems in the family that need to be addressed, but not by finding him delinquent.”
Tollison had insisted throughout the case there was no evidence linking his client to any murder conspiracy.
“G.W. has never been a violent person,” Tollison said. “He’s an honor roll student and he plans to begin college soon.”
Tollison said his client, who is now an legal adult since his recent 18th birthday, presently intends to live with his mother and attend school in Nashville.
District Attorney General Dale Potter deferred comment until after a disposition is announced in the Brandon Wiley case.