Trial to begin for former Ohio sheriff's deputy in 2020 shooting death of Casey Goodson Jr.
ABC News
Former deputy Jason Meade has pleaded not guilty to murder charges.
Opening statements will begin Wednesday in the trial of a former sheriff's deputy charged in the 2020 fatal shooting of a 23-year-old Black man who was entering his grandmother's home in Columbus, Ohio. The trial begins more than three years after Casey Goodson Jr.'s death.
Jason Meade, a former deputy with the Franklin County Sheriff's Office (FCSO), was charged with murder and reckless homicide in December 2021 in connection with the shooting. The trial begins one day after what would have been Goodson's 27th birthday.
Meade, who is white, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
On Dec. 4, 2020, Meade was working with a U.S. Marshals task force searching for a wanted fugitive when he claims he saw Goodson waving a gun erratically from inside his car and then began tracking Meade, according to a December 2021 statement from Meade's lawyers.
The former deputy claims he then followed Goodson home. Meade alleges that Goodson had a pistol in his right hand and a plastic bag in his left hand as he stood outside the door of his grandmother's house, where he lived. Meade said he screamed at Goodson several times to show his hands but his commands were ignored, according to his attorneys' statement.
