DENVER | Attorneys for a former Rocky Ford police officer charged with second-degree murder in a fatal shooting while he was on duty want graphic photographs of the victim barred from court.
The Denver Post reports (https://goo.gl/qOjDvX ) James Ashby’s attorneys say photos depicting 27-year-old Jack Jacquez’s injuries could unfairly sway a jury by inciting “emotional responses of sympathy, hatred and contempt.”
Investigators say Ashby followed Jacquez into the home of Jacquez’s mother and shot him in the back Oct. 12, 2014. Ashby told investigators he thought Jacquez was a burglar, but officials say the former officer had no reason to believe Jacquez was committing a crime.
Thursday’s motion comes among a flurry of efforts by Ashby’s lawyers to restrict evidence they think could tarnish jurors’ views of Ashby, whose trial is set for Jan. 11.
Information from: The Denver Post, https://www.denverpost.com