Prosecutors drop charge in Jason Meade murder trial, court filing shows
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Prosecutors are dropping one of three charges against an ex-deputy before he goes to trial for a second time over a man’s death in 2020.
Jason Meade, who took disability retirement from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in 2021, was facing two counts of murder and one count of reckless homicide. A previous trial against him tasked a jury with determining whether or not he was justified in shooting 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr. because he genuinely feared for his life.
However, a court filing on Friday showed that special prosecutors H. Tim Merkle, Gary Shroyer and Joshua Shaw are not going to pursue the same charges they did in a first trial against the ex-deputy, which ended with a deadlocked jury. The trio entered nolle prosequi for the first charge of murder, meaning they will no longer pursue it in court. Meade will instead face a single count of murder alongside the reckless homicide charge.
Judge David Young declared a mistrial when jurors could not reach a unanimous agreement on “any of the three charges,” according to a written note they passed to him. They spent three days deliberating, and were interrupted multiple times when three jurors were replaced by alternates.
Merkle declined to comment to NBC4 about his team’s filing to abandon a murder charge. However, he previously spoke to reporters in the aftermath of the mistrial.
“Needless to say we are disappointed that the jury did not reach a verdict,” Merkle said. “We are especially saddened for the Goodson family who have responded so admirably to the tragic death of Casey and their patience with the system as we strive for accountability and justice. We are mindful of the frustration today’s lack of a final verdict has caused to them and the community as a whole.”
A timeline of events leading up to Jason Meade’s first murder trial is below. Click the links inside to view previous coverage of the case in chronological order.
Throughout the trial, Meade asserted he feared for his life on Dec. 4, 2020, when he shot Goodson, a Black man. Meade was coming off an assignment with the U.S. Marshals Service and claimed to see Goodson waving a gun while driving. After pursuing Goodson to his grandmother’s house on Estates Place in north Columbus, Meade said Goodson was standing in the doorway of the house when he pointed his gun back at Meade.
The state, meanwhile, had argued that the shooting was unjustified, citing a lack of corroboration that Goodson pointed his gun, either in his car or at his door, as well as the fact that Goodson was wearing AirPods at the time of the shooting. Goodson was shot six times, five of which hit his back.
Franklin County Common Pleas Court scheduled a new criminal trial for Meade on Nov. 4, with jury selection beginning Oct. 31.
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