Court dates have already been rescheduled twice for Nashville police Officer Andrew Delke, who faces a homicide charge in the July fatal shooting of 25-year-old Daniel Hambrick.
The officer’s preliminary hearing, which was at one point on the docket for this week, is now expected on January 4.
The shifting date isn’t unusual, but it does show how long it could take for a high-profile case to be heard.
In a half-dozen other cities, police officers tended to wait a year or two to go to trial in fatal cases. In Chicago, an officer was convicted four years after a killing; in St. Louis, one was acquitted six years after the fact.
In Nashville, even when an officer is not involved, it has been common for murder cases to take at least two years to wind through the courts.
Delke has been charged with criminal homicide. It will be up to the judge at preliminary hearing to determine if prosecutors have a strong enough case to send it to the Davidson County Grand Jury.
The grand jury would then decide whether to indict the officer, and on what specific charge.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM