Opening statements began Thursday in the retrial of a former Franklin County sheriff’s deputy charged with murder and reckless homicide in the death of Casey Goodson Jr. in Columbus, Ohio. Meade faces allegations that his use of force against Goodson was not justified during a confrontation that prosecutors say unfolded after Goodson entered his grandmother’s home. The retrial has also renewed public scrutiny that initially followed the 2020 shooting, including questions about whether the sheriff’s office equipped deputies with body cameras or dash cameras.
Special prosecutor Howard Merkle told jurors that the evidence would show that, on Dec. 4, 2020, Meade shot Goodson Jr. six times in the back, killing him. Merkle described Goodson’s circumstances at the time, saying Goodson had entered his house, was carrying a bag of Subway sandwiches, and was listening to YouTube music on his AirPods.
Merkle urged jurors to consider the evidence he said proves Meade’s use of force was unreasonable. In court, he also tied the state’s theory of the shooting to what he said happened when Goodson turned toward Meade as Meade confronted him. Meade previously faced the same charges at his first trial, which ended in a mistrial in 2024 after the jury deadlocked.
Meade testified in the first trial that Goodson waved a gun at him as the two drove past each other and that Meade pursued Goodson because he feared for his life and the lives of others. In that testimony, Meade said he eventually fired as Goodson entered the grandmother’s home, after Goodson turned toward him with a gun.
Defense attorney Kaitlyn Stephens, representing Meade in the retrial, said Meade feared for his life during the confrontation. Stephens argued that officers do not have to wait to be shot at in order to protect themselves, and she framed the case as one where Meade’s actions were justified under the circumstances he faced.
Prosecutors said they do not dispute that Goodson may have been carrying a gun, which he had a license to carry, but they noted that Meade has been the only person to testify that Goodson was holding a gun. Court filings and testimony discussed in the first trial also indicated that Goodson’s weapon was found on his grandmother’s kitchen floor with the safety mechanism engaged, according to the account presented in the opening phase of the retrial.
According to the state’s description of the day, Meade was searching unsuccessfully for a fugitive on Dec. 4, 2020 as part of a U.S. Marshals Service task force. The U.S. Marshals said Goodson was not the subject of the fugitive search and that Meade was not performing a mission for them at the time of the shooting.
Goodson’s family and prosecutors have said Goodson was holding a sandwich bag in one hand and his keys in the other after he unlocked the front door when he was fatally shot. The state’s case also highlighted lingering questions from the initial investigation, including the sheriff’s office’s failure, prosecutors and advocates have said, to equip deputies with body cameras or dash cameras.
In the first trial, jurors deadlocked after multiple disruptions and replacements, including one juror being dismissed during testimony and replaced with an alternate, and three others dismissed and replaced during deliberations. Court officials did not provide an explanation for why jurors were removed, and the jury deadlock forced the panel to restart deliberations multiple times, culminating in the mistrial in 2024.