The jury began deliberating Wednesday afternoon in the second trial for former Franklin County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Meade on charges he murdered 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr. in 2020.
Two years ago, a different jury took three days to deliberate on the charges of murder and reckless homicide against Meade and didn't come to a verdict. Unlike last time, Meade didn't take the stand in his own defense. In the current trial, he is also facing those same charges.
Closing arguments on Wednesday were a constant back and forth where the prosecutors and defense attorneys told jurors not to trust the other side. Both sides rested their cases on Tuesday. The prosecution called 19 witnesses, while the defense only called four.
Before hearing closing arguments, Judge David Young read instructions to the jury about how to consider whether or not Meade is guilty. Jurors were instructed not to consider the closing arguments as evidence.
Special Prosecutor Tim Merkle told jurors during his closing argument that they need to consider all the evidence presented at trial and not just Meade's narrative. Meade was the only direct witness to the shooting and he wasn't wearing a body worn camera.
"So don't be hoodwinked by any kind of an argument that the firing of a weapon by a police officer is just to stop the threat. That's felonious assault. And when it causes death, and the firing is not justified, that's a murder," Merkle said.
Merkle said if the jury was supposed to believe everything an officer said, every shooting would be justified since officers would try to justify their actions.
Jurors don't have to determine whether or not Meade killed Goodson, but whether he was justified in doing so.
Meade alleged Goodson drove down the street waving a gun, which prompted Meade to follow Goodson home. Goodson was shot in the back six times while entering his home the day he was killed.
Goodson was wearing wireless earbuds while carrying a sandwich bag. Authorities found a gun on him, which had the safety on. Goodson also had a concealed carry permit.
Merkle pointed out that physical evidence doesn't lie, but people do.
Defense attorney Mark Collins spent much of his closing argument trying to discredit the witnesses called by the prosecutors. He tried telling the jury that experts brought in by the prosecution weren't using lawful standards to evaluate if Meade's actions were reasonable.
"(Meade) had no pause button, he had no crystal ball, and he had no duty to wait for the first shot. The law does not require perfection from our law enforcement officers. It requires reasonableness and we've proven that," Collins said.
Collins tried poking holes in the prosecutor's argument by showing a video clip from the 2024 trial where Merkle handles Goodson's unloaded firearm in the courtroom as evidence. Merkle was handling the firearm and at one time pointed the barrel at the witness on the stand, who was a Columbus police officer. The officer ducked.
Collins also did a demonstration with a fake rifle and a tall measuring stick to try and show the jury what he believed was inaccurate testimony. Collins argued one of the witnesses misstated the height at which Meade was holding his firearm, using the props to demonstrate this.
Closing arguments ended with a rebuttal from Special Prosecutor Gary Schroyer.
After the rebuttal, Collins asked Young to declare a mistrial, which Young denied.
The two sides also got into a heated argument with each other before Young dismissed the court room for a break.
