Opening statements began Thursday in the retrial of a former Franklin County, Ohio, deputy charged with murder and reckless homicide in the death of Casey Goodson Jr. The case centers on a Dec. 4, 2020, shooting in which prosecutors allege that former deputy Jason Meade shot Goodson multiple times in the back as Goodson entered his grandmother’s home.
Special prosecutor Howard Merkle recounted the events leading up to the shooting and told jurors that the evidence shows Meade used unreasonable force. Merkle told the court, “The evidence will show that on December 4, 2020, the defendant shot Casey Goodson Jr. six times in the back, killing him,” and he added that at the time Goodson “had entered his house, was carrying a bag of Subways and was listening to YouTube music on his AirPods.”
Meade testified at the first trial that Goodson waved a gun as the two drove past each other and that he pursued Goodson because he feared for his life and the lives of others. Meade said he fired as Goodson entered his grandmother’s home because he believed Goodson turned toward him with a gun, according to the case description presented in court.
Defense attorney Kaitlyn Stephens said Meade feared for his life during the confrontation and argued that police officers need not wait for an officer to be shot. Stephens told the jury, “The evidence will show that Jason Meade was justified, a justified tragedy,” and she said officers do “not have to wait to be shot at in order to protect themselves.”
Prosecutors and Goodson’s family have said Goodson was holding a sandwich bag in one hand and his keys in the other after unlocking the front door when he was fatally shot. While prosecutors acknowledged Goodson may have been carrying a gun licensed for him to carry, they said Meade was the only person who testified that Goodson was holding a gun during the encounter.
The case also played into broader questions raised during the first trial, including public pressure about the lack of body cameras and dash cameras. After the shooting, protests erupted in Columbus, with lingering questions tied in part to whether deputies were equipped with recording devices at the time.
Merkle said Meade had been searching unsuccessfully for a fugitive that day as part of his work for a U.S. Marshals Service task force, and Goodson was not the subject of the fugitive search. Prosecutors said the Marshals had said Meade was not performing a mission for them at the time.
Jurors in the first trial deadlocked, and the judge declared a mistrial in 2024. Court officials did not say why jurors were removed during testimony and later during deliberations, which required the panel to restart deliberations multiple times after one was dismissed during testimony and three others were dismissed and replaced during deliberations.
Prosecutors also said Goodson’s weapon was found on his grandmother’s kitchen floor with the safety mechanism engaged. The retrial is expected to again put Meade’s account of how the shooting unfolded into conflict with prosecutors’ description of what Meade did as Goodson entered his grandmother’s house.