Retrial Opens in Jason Meade's Shooting of Casey Goodson Jr.

Opening statements began Thursday in the retrial of Jason Meade, a former Franklin County Sheriff's deputy charged with murder and reckless homicide in the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr. on December 4, 2020, outside his grandmother's home in Columbus, Ohio.

Special prosecutor Tim Merkle outlined the prosecution's case, arguing that evidence would demonstrate Meade fired six shots at Goodson, five of them in the back, as the young man returned home from a dentist appointment carrying a bag of sandwiches and house keys. Prosecutors emphasized that Goodson posed no threat and that the deputy's use of force was unreasonable. "The evidence will show that the force used by the former deputy was entirely unreasonable under the circumstances," Merkle told the jury of nine women and three men, seated the previous day.

Meade's defense attorney, Kaitlyn Stephens, countered that the retired deputy acted in self-defense out of genuine fear for his life and the safety of others. During his testimony in the first trial, Meade described seeing Goodson wave a gun at him as their vehicles passed each other on the street. He said he pursued Goodson to the home because he believed...