Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk has determined the referral in January of a Soddy-Daisy gunshot case to a state investigative agency was the right move.
Funk, whose office took over the case as well as a probe of allegations by Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston against political opponent Coty Wamp that she illegally interfered in the case, called Pinkston’s choice “honest and transparent” in a Friday statement.
“District Attorney General Neal Pinkston appropriately and correctly asked the [Tennessee Bureau of Investigation] to conduct this investigation and for an independent prosecutor to handle the case,” Funk said. “He was honest and transparent in the referral of this case to another district attorney and in providing the information he had received from law enforcement up to that time.”
Funk declined to comment further because it is an ongoing investigation, but he added it will be conducted based on facts and without any political influence.
On Tuesday, the state dismissed charges against Hugo Garcia Padilla, 40, who was initially charged with reckless endangerment and two counts of aggravated assault after an argument on Barbee Road in early January resulted in a bullet being fired into the ground.
Nashville Assistant District Attorney Tammy Meade, acting on behalf of Funk’s office, said it was clear Soddy-Daisy police arrested Padilla due to mistaken identification.
Soddy-Daisy Judge Marty Lasley is now reviewing the case before releasing an arrest warrant for Hugo Garcia Robles, who was later identified as the correct suspect.
(READ MORE: Charges dropped against Soddy-Daisy gunshot suspect)
In the Jan. 6 referral to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Pinkston said Wamp tampered with a witness and obstructed justice because the victims had allegedly recanted their stories after she interfered in the case.
Wamp has maintained she was operating in the interest of justice because the wrong man was arrested, and she has called Pinkston’s referral to the TBI politically motivated.
Wamp and Pinkston are both Republicans running in the May 3 primary election for district attorney, and because of concerns about a potential conflict of interest, the state took over the matter.
At a Wednesday news conference, Wamp called the referral an abuse of the district attorney’s power to request a TBI investigation and said that Pinkston is a “black eye” on the office.
In response, Pinkston defended his decision to refer the matter of Wamp’s involvement to the TBI.
“Political optics and campaign rhetoric don’t belong in the DA’s office,” Pinkston said in a statement. “The Hamilton County sheriff and the Board of Professional Responsibility agreed with my decision, yet ultimately that decision is mine.”
Contact Logan Hullinger at lhullinger@timesfreepress.com or 814-319-5158. Follow him on Twitter @LoganHullinger.