A psychologist raised concerns about a former Rocky Ford police officer’s self-control in a pre-employment interview four months before an on-duty shooting that left him facing accusations of murder.
The therapist’s worries, made public in a court filing last week, also included doubts about James Ashby’s ability to effectively and acceptably deal with challenges in his work and personal lives.
The report comes roughly two weeks after internal investigation records from Rocky Ford showed eight days before the .
The Denver Post has found supervisors surrounding Ashby before hiring him in Rocky Ford, specifically concerns from his previous job as an officer in Walsenburg.
Another psychologist’s pre-employment exam on Ashby before he was hired in Walsenburg also found Ashby “stretches limits, seeks excitement (and) becomes bored easily,” court papers show.
Ashby’s lawyers were trying to suppress both psychologists’ reports from his January trial for second-degree murder, but a judge ruled Wednesday against them.
Investigators say Ashby followed Jacquez into the home of Jacquez’s mother and fatally shot him in the back Oct. 12, 2014.
Ashby told investigators he thought Jacquez was a burglar, court records show, but officials say the former cop had no reason to believe Jacquez was committing a crime.
Ashby’s defense team has seeking to bar the former officer’s records from court, calling attempts by prosecutors to dig into his past “a widespread fishing expedition.”
At least four of Rocky Ford’s 10 officers have had problems in previous law-enforcement jobs or had criminal convictions that might have kept them from being hired at bigger departments or in other states, .
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or @JesseAPaul
