After more than three years, the murder trial for former Franklin County Sheriff’s SWAT Deputy Jason Meade begins Monday with jury selection.
Meade shot Casey Goodson Jr. in December 2020, but the circumstances surrounding the shooting remain unclear.
Meade was with a U.S. Marshall’s task force on an unsuccessful fugitive search when he claims he saw Goodson in a car waving a gun. Even though Goodson was not the subject of the search, Meade pursued Goodson to a family home in the Northland area.
Outside the home, Meade shot Goodson six times in the back. Meade claims Goodson ignored requests to drop the gun.
Goodson’s family maintains he was holding deli sandwiches — not a gun.
Three years later, a jury will try to determine what Goodson was holding, whether he heard Meade's commands and ultimately whether Meade was justified in shooting him.
Meade, now 45, is white. Goodson, 23, was Black.
At a vigil held last week at City of Grace Church, Goodson’s mother, Tamala Payne, asked about 70 supporters to pray for the judge, the jury, the prosecution and even for Meade.
She said hating Meade would make all of them the same as him.
“When we say we won't go in hating him. We will go in feeling no way towards him, while wanting him to be held accountable for what he did to Casey," she said.
There is no footage of the shooting, because the sheriff’s office did not use body cameras at the time.
Goodson had a legal concealed carry permit and police say they found a gun at the scene.
Meade’s defense attorney has said a witness heard the deputy command Goodson to drop the gun. Meade claims Goodson pointed the gun at him.
But Goodson’s family paints a different picture.
At last week’s vigil, City of Grace Church pastor Michael Young shared the family's version of Goodson’s death.
“With one hand, he was putting his keys in the door. With another hand, he was carrying a bag of Subway sandwiches," Young said. "The screen door was actually closed on his back as he was trying to enter his home, and he was gunned down, military style, shot six times in the back.”
The family’s lawyer, Sean Walton, argues Goodson likely didn’t hear Meade’s commands because he was listening to wireless earbuds that weren't initially collected as evidence.
Walton has also shared frustrations about delays in the trial. It took one year for Meade to be indicted, and two more for him to reach trial.
“You would think that families have a right to a speedy trial, but here, because Jason is the defendant, he's been able to delay the case and delay the case because he doesn't want that final judgment," Walton said last week.
Meade’s attorney, Mark Collins, declined to comment ahead of the trial. But in early January, he said the legal process took a long time because of "thorough investigation."
Collins says police shootings are not “whodunits.”
“There was a deadly force used. And whether it's not, if it's justified or not, that's the issue that goes there," Collins said. "So, in this type of trial or case, we don't contest 80 or 90% of the information, you know, because it's everyone is telling the same story with the facts. But a lot of it has to do with the case law and the jury instructions that you have to educate the jury about.”
While serving as a deputy, Meade also served as a pastor at Rosedale Free Will Baptist Church in Irwin, east of Mechanicsburg. Soon after the shooting, recordings of Meade surfaced, including one of him speaking at a Baptist convention in which he said he "hunts" people, and that "it's a great job."
He goes on to talk about use of force, saying, "I learned long ago I got to throw the first punch. And I learned long ago why I'm justified in throwing the first punch. Don't look up here like 'oh, police brutality.' The people I hit, you wish you could hit, trust me."
Meade’s attorneys tried to prevent the jury from hearing the recording, but Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David Young ruled the prosecution could use it in cross-examination.
In a different 2018 video made by the sheriff’s office as part of its "Connecting with the Community" series, Meade calls force a “righteous release.”
“Because now and then you have to actually use force. We don’t go around looking for it because we don’t have to," Meade said in the recorded interview. "Plenty of people out there would give you that opportunity. So, we don’t have to be bullies going around looking for it. That’s why I say it’s a righteous release.”
Prior to becoming a deputy, Meade served in the Marine Corps Reserves.
He was with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office for about 17 years, until he took a disability retirement in July 2021.
Goodson’s family filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit against Meade and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. That case is on hold until the criminal case is complete.
Opening statements may come as early as Tuesday and Collins has said evidence may begin on Wednesday. Special prosecutor Tim Merkle said the murder trial is expected to last about two weeks.
