Jason Meade murder trial: Casey Goodson had music playing when he was shot

NBC4 is covering the murder trial of Jason Meade from gavel to gavel. Viewer discretion is advised. 4:40 p.m. update: Testimony has concluded for the day and will resume at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The prosecution called its last witnesses to the stand in the murder trial of a former sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot a Black man at the door of his grandmother’s house in 2020.

Jason Meade, a former Franklin County sheriff’s deputy, is on trial for the death of 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr. Meade’s attorneys have asserted that Meade, fresh off an assignment with the U.S. Marshals Service, trailed Goodson after seeing him wave a gun while driving. He shot Goodson after he pointed his gun at Meade, his attorneys have claimed.

Goodson’s family, and the state, have argued that Goodson was not holding his gun, for which he had a concealed carry permit. He could not have been a threat, they’ve said, because his back was toward Meade when Meade shot him six times.

Meade faces two counts of murder and one count of reckless homicide.

Goodson was listening to music at the time of shooting, cell phone data shows

On Monday, jurors heard from a slate of emergency personnel who responded that day to Goodson’s grandmother’s house on Estates Place, where Goodson and many of his family members lived. It was Meade who called for medics, body camera footage from a Minerva Park officer showed.

It took about five minutes for medics to reach Goodson after arriving on the scene, a Columbus Fire paramedic testified. Medics never detected a pulse.

The prosecution presented photos from an officer’s body camera showing Goodson on the kitchen floor, a face-mask on his chin and an AirPod in at least one of his ears. Goodson was listening to YouTube Music with his AirPods, the detective who analyzed his phone data and Google account information testified. He cued eight songs between noon and 12:19 p.m., right around the time he was shot.

Under probing by the defense, the detective clarified that there is no way to tell from the data how loud Goodson’s music was playing — or whether he could have heard Meade’s commands.

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The AirPods, which jurors saw last week in crime scene photos, were not originally collected as evidence. A detective on the case, Dana Croom, testified under cross-examination Monday that such an omission would not necessarily mean that someone tampered with evidence – that’s why scenes are documented extensively with photos.

Like other officers who have testified in the case, under cross-examination, Croom said a person waving a gun in a car would warrant further investigation. He reiterated what other officers on the stand said: A person believed to have a gun would be a threat even with their back turned, because they could shoot without turning.

Goodson’s gun was found on the kitchen floor, near where he fell. The prosecution and defense have focused on Goodson’s holster throughout much of the trial; prosecutors have contended the holster, made of cloth, wouldn’t have held Goodson’s gun in place when he fell.

One detective testified that in his experience using a cloth holster while undercover, his gun has never fallen out. But Det. Arthur Hughes, the lead detective on the case, said he wouldn’t run while carrying a gun in a holster like Goodson’s.

“There’s nothing to hold the gun in place,” Hughes said.

The safety was engaged on Goodson’s gun, which the prosecution has pointed to as evidence that Goodson could not have been a threat to Meade. But the state’s firearm expert testified under cross-examination that if Goodson had been pointing or waving the gun, a person may not be able to tell whether the safety was engaged.

The prosecution also played security footage from a church that captured the moment Goodson and Meade first crossed paths, at the intersection of Karl and Ferris Roads. After watching Goodson turn onto Ferris Road, Meade, in an unmarked police truck, made a U-turn to tail Goodson, who had turned onto Estates Place toward his grandmother’s house.

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After three days of jury selection and opening statements last Wednesday, the jury heard from Goodson’s grandmother, uncle and sister Thursday, who were all in the house when Goodson was shot. They each spoke of hearing gunshots and running toward the kitchen, where they either saw Goodson lying on the ground or were ordered by law enforcement to get on the floor.

Two Columbus police officers who were at the scene that day also testified Thursday, including the lead crime scene investigator who processed Meade after the shooting.

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During a full day in court Friday, jurors heard from multiple technical experts who were involved in the investigation of Goodson’s death, including the medical examiner who performed Goodson’s autopsy, an FBI firearms expert who reconstructed the shooting, and a detective who documented and collected evidence from the scene.

Autopsy photos of Goodson were also shown publicly for the first time on Friday. Many of his family members held each other and cried as the medical examiner explained the injuries Goodson suffered and the path the bullets took through his body.

An FBI firearms expert who reconstructed the shooting discussed the trajectory the bullets took through the storm door into the kitchen. And a crime scene investigator discussed his process of documenting evidence the evening of the shooting – including the fact that he wasn’t instructed to collect the AirPods Goodson was wearing.

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Meade spent his entire law enforcement career at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, first becoming a deputy in 2007. He left the force in July 2021 on disability retirement, five months before he was charged in Goodson’s death. He had been on paid leave since shooting Goodson.

The former Marine had been on the sheriff’s office SWAT team since 2014, according to his personnel file. He was previously a pastor at Rosedale Freewill Baptist Church in Irwin.

Representing Meade are three seasoned criminal defense attorneys: Mark Collins, Kaitlyn Stephens and Steven Nolder. Collins and Stephens have represented a swathe of law enforcement officials under prosecutorial scrutiny for their use of force, including former Columbus police vice officer Andrew Mitchell, who killed Donna Castleberry in 2018.

Presenting the state’s case are special prosecutors Gary Shroyer, Tim Merkle and Joshua Shaw, tapped by the Franklin County prosecutor’s office since it typically represents the sheriff’s office. Shroyer and Merkle have ample experience investigating officers who use deadly force — most recently, the duo is handling the murder case against former Columbus police officer Ricky Anderson, who killed Donovan Lewis in his bed in the Hilltop in August 2022.

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