A former Colorado police officer who had been arrested for second degree murder after causing a fatal crash, in what was described as a road rage incident, was acquitted by a jury this week. Officer Blair Jackson of the Ault Colorado Police Department was arrested in June 2016. He had left his shift and encountered his victim, identified as Esteban Moreno Jr., on his way home. It is unknown what started the road rage incident, however it ended with Moreno dead and Jackson behind bars.
According to reports, Jackson and Moreno were seen tailgating and cutting each other off at high speeds just moments before the crash. According to the Sheriff of Weld County, “During the incident, the Ford Ranger rolled, and the driver was later declared dead at the scene.” There were no other vehicles in the area except for Jackson’s. Jackson’s personal vehicle was also damaged in a collision with Moreno’s car. According to witnesses, Jackson collided with the side of Moreno’s vehicle, forcing it off the road in what appeared to be an intentional act.
Despite what the witness testified to in court, Jackson had his own version of events. According to Jackson, Moreno attempted to pass him twice, and while doing so, threatened him by swerving toward his car. He testified that on the third attempt to pass him, Moreno crashed into him, causing his Ford Ranger to roll off the road. Jackson was able to keep driving. Although none of his version of events makes sense or is corroborated by witnesses, the jury bought it.
According to the Weld County District Attorney Ben Whitney, “He was driving faster than everyone else. He was driving more aggressively. The crash is not the whole story. It is the last chapter in a story about a series of dangerous decisions made by the defendant. Maybe we don’t know what the spark was, but we do know how it ends. It ends with Moreno’s pickup halfway in a field leaving a path of debris behind.” The position of the DA and the police was that Jackson intentionally drove Moreno’s car off the road, resulting in his death and the charge of second degree murder.
Unfortunately, the jury didn’t agree. Despite the case laid out by the district attorney that the crash was the result of aggression and bad decision making, it only took the jury one hour to find Jackson not guilty. Unfortunately, we live in a society that has been so brainwashed into believing that police are our heroes, that even when they commit crimes that would put the rest of us away for a decade, juries are unable to recognize it. Jackson is no longer with the Ault police Department, however, and the agency has not released whether or not he was terminated or allowed to resign.
Sources: Denver Post, KDVR.
This article (Former Cop Arrested for Road Rage Murder, Acquitted by Jury) is a free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and AnonHQ.com.
Supporting Anonymous’ Independent & Investigative News is important to us. Please, follow us on Twitter: Follow @AnonymousNewsHQ
He is employed and working in Walden Colorado. He was not terminated, and he still works as Law Enforcement for Jackson County Sherrif’s Office. What a wonderful country we live in. By the way, he has been tormenting the locals and acts absolutely psychotic.