NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The first-degree murder trial of decommissioned Metro police officer Andrew Delke has been postponed.
Jury selection in the high-profile case was set to begin on March 11. Now jury selection is scheduled to begin on Monday June 15, 2020 with the trial starting a week later on Monday June 22.
Why the delay? Deputy District Attorney Roger Moore filed a motion asking for more time to prepare a witness who is an expert in the use of force by police.
Officer Delke is charged with murder in the shooting death of Daniel Hambrick in July of 2018. Delke's legal team did not object to the request for the delay and Judge Monte Watkins granted the motion.
Meanwhile, the Tennessee Supreme Court denied a request from the defense to consider a change of venue motion in the case. So, the trial will be heard by a jury comprised of Davidson County citizens.
No further delays are expected. We do plan to cover the case gavel-to-gavel.
FOP officials released the following statement:
The Nashville FOP would like to release this statement regarding the motion to continue the Delke trial filed by Glenn Funk. When the Fraternal Order of Police learned that the district attorney continued the trial, we were disappointed because we are certain that the defense is ready to present a strong case that will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Andrew Delke is innocent. This continuance, however, highlights the fact that there are clear deficiencies in the state’s case and the prosecutor now has a need to bring experts in to analyze the reasoning behind the fact that a Police Officer is being charged with murder for following his training when he was forced to confront a lethal threat.
