HASTINGS  — A judge has denied an attempt by the man convicted of killing a Mendota Heights police officer to reclaim the cash that was taken from him at the time of his arrest.

Dakota County District Judge Karen Asphaug has ruled it’s too soon to decide whether Brian Fitch has a right to nearly $3,000 that was found in his pants when he was taken into custody in St. Paul last July. Fitch is serving a life prison sentence for fatally shooting Officer Scott Patrick in West St. Paul.

Asphaug’s ruling leaves open the possibility that Fitch can ask for the money again when his appeals are exhausted, even if he loses all of them.