COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jury deliberations will continue into Friday in the murder trial of former sheriff's deputy Jason Meade.

Another juror was dismissed Thursday, forcing the panel to start over its deliberations for the second time in two days. The panel had deliberated for more than three hours Wednesday before a juror was dismissed and replaced by an alternate.

After several days of testimony, both the prosecution and defense presented their closing arguments to the jury on Wednesday. Both sides used words like "deceit" and "desperate" to describe each other’s cases. 

What You Need To Know

  • The prosecution and defense presented their closing arguments to the jury in the murder trial of Jason Meade

  • Ohio special prosecutor, Tim Merkle, repeatedly told the jurors, "physical evidence doesn't lie — people do"

  • Defense attorney, Mark Collins, presented the defense's closing argument discrediting every witness from the prosecution

Wednesday morning started with special prosecutor Tim Merkle repeatedly telling jurors that “physical evidence doesn’t lie — people do.”

During his closing argument, he focused on that evidence — everything from Goodson’s gun at the scene that had its safety still engaged, to the bloody airpods that prosecutors say prevented Goodson from being able to hear the orders from Meade. He also replayed body cam footage from another officer that was taken after the shooting and reminded them of the testimony from bystander who was at the scene and said he did not see Goodson holding a gun. To end his closing argument, Merkle left the jury with this final statement.

“Consider all the evidence, evaluate it and return a just verdict for Casey who did nothing wrong but had the terrible misfortune of crossing the path of Michael Jason Meade. An aggressive, arrogant, and remorseless officer who sat before you and told you what disturbed him wasn't taking an innocent life, but that he ruined his son's birthday,” said Merkle.

As for the defense, Meade’s attorney Mark Collins focused on his client, reminding the jury of Meade’s extensive background in law enforcement and the fact that he used to be a pastor. Collins warned the jurors that prosecution was trying to play on their emotions by replaying the 911 call from the night of the shooting. And he also called into question the validity of the testimony by the surprise witness that the prosecution called.

“There is no verdict, ladies and gentlemen, that will bring Casey Goodson back. There's not there is no burden that will heal both sides of this courtroom. There is no verdict. There's no power to do that. Ladies and gentlemen, you do have the power, though. You do have the power to prevent a third tragedy. And a third tragedy would be to rely upon evidence that they put forth either in their direct or their case in rebuttal and cross-examination,” said Collins.

Meade has been charged with two counts of murder and one count of reckless homicide. If convicted, he faces life in prison. 

Senior Digital Producer Lydia Taylor contributed to this article.