Nashville Police officer Andrew Delke sits with his attorney John M.L. Brown at the second day of his preliminary hearing at the Justice A.A. Birch Building Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn. Delke is charged with criminal homicide in the on-duty shooting of Daniel Hambrick. (George Walker IV/The Tennessean via AP)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Latest on the case of police officer charged in a fatal Tennessee shooting (all times local):
3:20 p.m.
The attorney for a white police officer in the fatal shooting of a black man says Nashville’s district attorney “functionally declared war” on the city’s police when he claimed the defense is relying on the same arguments as those used to defend Nazis at the Nuremberg trials.
Attorney David Raybin on Monday said District Attorney Glenn Funk’s comments were inflammatory and had no place in Nashville or a courtroom. Funk said in a hearing Saturday that the defense’s argument that officer Andrew Delke was following his training was the same one used in Nuremberg.
Raybin said all Nashville officers are trained in an identical fashion.
Funk responded to Raybin’s comment about a war declaration, saying “nothing could be further from the truth” and that his office respects and supports Nashville police. Funk said his comments meant that individuals are accountable for their actions and can’t blame superiors or the department as a whole.
Delke is charged in the July shooting of 25-year-old Daniel Hambrick, who was carrying a pistol when he ran from the officer.
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10:40 a.m.
The case against a white Nashville police officer in the fatal shooting of a black man is headed to a grand jury.
Davidson County General Sessions Judge Melissa Blackburn found probable cause in an order Monday to send officer Andrew Delke’s case to the grand jury. Delke is charged in the July shooting of 25-year-old Daniel Hambrick, who had a pistol as he ran from the officer.
Blackburn made the determination after several hours of testimony over two days last week.
Defense attorneys said Delke followed his training and state law when he saw Hambrick had a gun and shot him from behind during a foot chase.
District Attorney Glenn Funk said there were options available, suggesting Delke could have stopped, sought cover, and called for help.
In his closing argument, General Funk described Officer Delke’s adherence to his training as tantamount to the defense asserted by the Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg. By making such inflammatory comments have no place in this city and more importantly in a court room, by making that statement, District Attorney Glenn Funk has functionally declared war on our police, because all of our officers are trained in an identical fashion. Let me be clear: Nashville police officers are not Nazis.
Andrew Delke was following his training.
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