Opening statements have just kicked off in the retrial of Jason Meade, a former Franklin County sheriff’s deputy who is facing charges of murder and reckless homicide. The legal proceedings center on the December 4, 2020, shooting death of Casey Goodson Jr., a 23-year-old Black man who was killed while entering his grandmother’s home in Columbus, Ohio. This case has been under intense scrutiny for years, since the initial trial ended in a mistrial.
Special prosecutor Howard Merkle laid out the prosecution’s perspective, emphasizing that the evidence will show Meade shot Goodson six times in the back when he was simply returning home, carrying a bag of Subway sandwiches and listening to music on his AirPods. Prosecutors are urging the jury to look closely at the evidence, which they argue proves that the force used by the former deputy was entirely unreasonable under the circumstances.
