COLUMBUS, Ohio — The murder trial for former Franklin County deputy Jason Meade starts Tuesday after he shot and killed Casey Goodson Jr. more than three years ago. 

What You Need To Know

  • Opening statements from the defense and prosecution will start Wednesday

  • Legal experts believe character evidence, expert testimony and physical evidence will be key for this trial

  • The family of Casey Goodson Jr. has filed a separate federal civil suit against Jason Meade and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office

Jason Meade is on trial for the murder of Casey Goodson Jr. On Dec. 4, 2020, Goodson was shot six times after Meade claimed Goodson pointed a gun at him. Goodson’s family claims he was holding Subway sandwiches and his keys when he was shot.

His family also said Goodson couldn’t hear Meade when he was asked to “put his hands up” because he was wearing earbuds. Goodson was shot and killed outside of his grandmother’s house.

After the shooting, Meade was immediately put on administrative leave. He was charged with two counts of murder and one count of reckless homicide by a Franklin County grand jury in December 2021 and posted bond within the week.

The trial is coming more than two years after his indictment and because there is no audio or video footage that can be used from a cellphone or body camera, prosecutors will have to rely on other forms of evidence. 

According to Spectrum News legal analyst, Rory Riley-Topping, we can expect about three types of evidence. 

  • Character evidence: Jason Meade is the only living witness to what happened. The judge is allowing the defense to use his past transgressions on “excessive force” during cross examination to possibly show motive or knowledge of the behavior he was taking. 

  • A pair of bloody earbuds: Goodson’s family said those earbuds belonged to Goodson and prevented him from hearing Meade telling him to stop and put his hands up, but the earbuds were not collected at the scene and raise questions about the evidence’s chain of custody. 

  • Use of experts on the stand: These can be medical experts, law enforcement officials, etc. 

Riley-Topping said these will be integral in how jurors should think about the physical evidence that has been presented. 

“Testimony from, for example, medical experts who would look at the autopsy report and draw their conclusion about what happened,” said Rory Riley-Topping. “Sometimes we will have other law enforcement experts talk about whether they feel that the actions that were taken were justified based on the events that they’ve alleged to have transpired in a particular way.”

Riley-Topping said jurors will have to ask themselves “was the amount of force used justified?”

She said expert testimony and character evidence will help them answer that question. 

“They’re going to be very interested in what we’ve talked about as some of the character evidence,” said Riley-Topping. “Does Meade seem like the type of person who would use excessive force? Did he have any implicit biases? What about Goodson? Does he seem like the type of person who would be waving a gun at police officers? What kind of a citizen was he? That character evidence is going to be the type of thing that a jury is really going to be focused on.”

Opening statements are expected to occur Tuesday afternoon. Goodson’s family has also filed a separate federal civil rights lawsuit against Meade and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, but that has been at a standstill the past couple of years.  

Correction: A previous version of this story said opening statements were expected to begin Tuesday. Opening statements will begin Wednesday, Jan. 31. This has been corrected. (Jan. 30, 2024.)

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