Franklin County Prosecutor Gary Tyack selected two special prosecutors in the case against Franklin County Sherrif's Deputy in the death of Casey Goodson Jr. Tim Merkle and Gary Shroyer will serve as special prosecutors, according to a statement from Tyack’s office.
The department expects Shroyer to start June 11 and Merkle to start June 19. Both were senior prosecutors under previous Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney S. Michael Miller, and both have backgrounds as trial lawyers. They have prosecuted and defended high-level criminal cases, including death penalty cases.
When Tyack took office in January, he said he wanted to tap a special prosecutor to handle the Goodson case. Franklin County Sheriff Deputy Jason Meade shot and killed Goodson in December. Last week the sheriff's office announced Meade would leave the department on July 2 to take disability retirement.
The Franklin County Court of Common Pleas must approve the appointments and execute contracts to make the decision official.
During the campaign last year, Tyack criticized former prosecutor Ron O’Brien for not pursuing allegations of police misconduct more adamantly. In his 24 years as prosecutor, O'Brien had indicted one Columbus officer for killing a civilian and resisted calls from Columbus activists to appoint special prosecutors in the cases of high-profile deaths like Henry Green and Tyre King.
