COLUMBUS, Ohio — Opening statements sparked a lot of emotion inside a Franklin County courtroom Wednesday.

What You Need To Know

  • Opening statements in the trial for Jason Meade, a former Franklin County sheriff's deputy, were completed Wednesday morning

  • Special prosecutor Gary Shroyer said the shooting was unjustified, and that Goodson was not a threat to Meade

  • The defense said Meade was trained and was only doing his job, which was to stop the threat

Family members of both Jason Meade and Casey Goodson Jr. were among those who packed the room to hear both sides begin to lay out their cases. Special prosecutor Gary Shroyer was up first telling the jury that the Dec. 2020 shooting of Goodson was unjustified.

“Six shots in the back, all fired by the defendant into the back of Casey Goodson with no reasonable basis for the defendant to perceive a threat by Casey,” said Shroyer. “It’s an unjustified shooting.”

And while Shroyer and defense attorney Kaitlyn Stephens both acknowledged that Goodson had a gun on him at the time of the shooting, they disagree on where it was. Prosecutors say it was in his front pocket while the defense said he was pointing it at Meade.

“The evidence will show that our client was trained to shoot until the threat that presented itself was over,” Stephens said. “The evidence will show that the threat in this case was the gun that was pointed at him. He shot to stop that threat of the attack before it shot him.”

The absence of body camera footage from Meade has made the facts of the case unclear. But the prosecution said there actually is body cam footage from another officer who was with Meade just moments after the shooting.

“We know Casey was not a threat to the defendant by using the defendant’s own words. He was caught on a body cam by another officer at the scene. Officer Penny, moments after the shooting. What he didn’t say was I was afraid. I was in fear for my life,” said Shroyer.

Meanwhile, the defense made a plea to the jury that they keep their focus on the facts of the case and not be swayed by any emotion or sympathy that the prosecution tries to include.

“And we have to prove that it is more likely than not that his decision to use deadly force was reasonable, given the totality of the circumstances. In the eyes of a reasonable police officer standing in Jason Meade’s shoes,” said Stephens.

A few hours after opening statements, jurors took a trip to see the scene of the shooting to get a better idea of what had occurred that day. The start of evidence begins on Thursday. The judge predicts this trial should take approximately two weeks before the jury gets the case.

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