COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) 鈥 Prosecutors in the murder trial of a former Ohio sheriff鈥檚 deputy told jurors Wednesday that his claims that the man he fatally shot posed a threat are not credible, while defense lawyers insisted that evidence in the case is consistent with their client's statements.
Special Prosecutor Tim Merkle said the victim, 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr., had the 鈥渋ll fortune鈥 of running into Jason Meade, whom he described as an 鈥渁ggressive, arrogant and remorseless officer,鈥 and urged the jury to return a 鈥渏ust verdict.鈥
Jurors began deliberating the case Wednesday afternoon.
Meade, who is white, is in the December 2020 killing in Columbus of Goodson, who was Black. Meade maintains that he shot Goodson because he brandished a gun.
Meade, who is a pastor at a Baptist church, shot Goodson six times, including five times in the back, as Goodson tried to police have said.
There is no bodycam video of the shooting, and prosecutors repeatedly asserted that Meade is the only person who testified Goodson was holding a gun.
Goodson鈥檚 family and prosecutors have said he was holding a sandwich bag in one hand and his keys in the other when he was fatally shot. They do not dispute that Goodson may have been carrying a gun but note that he had a license to carry a firearm.
Goodson鈥檚 weapon was found on his grandmother鈥檚 kitchen floor with the safety mechanism engaged.
Meade said that he feared for his life and the lives of others after Goodson waved a gun at him as the two drove past each other. He testified that he pursued Goodson in his unmarked vehicle and that Goodson aimed a gun at him again, right before the shooting occurred.
Defense attorney Mark Collins said they demonstrated that Meade acted responsibly and he that the witnesses called on Meade's behalf corroborated what he said. Collins also said the physical evidence in the case shows Meade was truthful.
Collins attacked the credibility of Christopher Corne, a last-minute witness called by prosecutors who testified Tuesday. Corne, who was driving a truck near where the shooting happened, drove past him shortly before Meade pursued him, and that he did not see a gun in Goodson鈥檚 hand.
Collins reminded the jury that Corne finally came forward only after he had watched news coverage of the trial's opening days. Collins also noted that Corne deleted all his Facebook comments, including favorable remarks made on posts on the page of Tamala Payne, Goodson鈥檚 mother.
Columbus police Officer Ryan Rosser that he and Meade had been working together on a fugitive task force assignment on the day of the shooting but that he was driving a separate vehicle. Rosser, when asked by prosecutors, said he did not see Goodson holding a gun and testified that he heard the gunshots but did not witness Goodson鈥檚 killing. His body camera captured the scene afterward but not the shooting itself.
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Samantha Hendrickson is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
