Jason Meade trial delayed until Tuesday, few witnesses left in Casey Goodson shooting case

The jury trial of former Franklin County Sheriff's deputy Jason Meade will be delayed until Tuesday for unknown reasons.

Special prosecutors declined to comment to The Dispatch on why the trial didn't resume as of noon when the judge dismissed jurors for lunch. Witness testimony is nearing its conclusion in the trial over the fatal 2020 shooting of Casey Goodson Jr.

After a lunch break Thursday afternoon, Judge David Young brought the jury into the courtroom and told them they were not needed again until Tuesday morning. No trial testimony will be held Friday or Monday.

Jason Meade, 45, testified in his own defense on Tuesday and then finished his testimony on Wednesday. Jurors also heard from other responding officers and a former Akron police officer whom the defense called as an expert in police use of force on Wednesday.

Kaitlyn Stephens, one of Meade's attorneys told The Dispatch on Wednesday after the trial wrapped for the day that the defense team will decide overnight whether they will rest in the morning or bring another witness, which could include a second law enforcement expert.

Special prosecuting attorneys told The Dispatch they are still deciding if they will bring their expert witness for rebuttal testimony.

Meade is charged in Franklin County Common Pleas Court with two counts of murder and one of reckless homicide in the Dec. 4, 2020, shooting death of 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr. at the home where Goodson resided on Estates Place in Columbus' North Linden.

He testified Tuesday that he had no other choice but to shoot when Goodson pointed a gun at him for a second time.

Previous live coverage: Former deputy Jason Meade testifies in murder trial: 'I thought he was going to shoot me'

"I thought he was going to shoot me," Meade said. "I’m thinking, 'I don’t want to die.'"

Goodson's family has said he was carrying sandwiches in one hand and his keys in another while returning home from a dentist's appointment and had earbuds in at the time.

The prosecution rested Tuesday morning, and defense witnesses began testimony after Common Pleas Judge David Young denied the defense team's motion to dismiss charges for lack of evidence.

Trial delayed until Tuesday

The trial has been scheduled to begin every day at 9 a.m. but has often started late by an hour or less. On Thursday, the trial had not started at noon when Judge David Young called jurors in only to dismiss them for a lunch break until 1:30 p.m.

At 1:40 p.m., Young brought the jurors into the courtroom and dismissed them for the day. Young said jurors were not needed again until Tuesday morning.

Young told the jurors a key trait for being a good juror is patience.

Special prosecutors declined to comment to The Dispatch on why the trial had not gotten started yet.

Mother of Donovan Lewis at courthouse in support

Rebecca Duran, the mother of Donovan Lewis, was at the courthouse Thursday walking on High Street with a sign that said "Justice for Casey Goodson Jr." and "Convict Jason Meade."

Former Columbus K-9 officer Ricky Anderson is facing murder and reckless homicide charges in connection with shooting Lewis inside his Hilltop apartment while trying to serve him a warrant after 2 a.m. on Aug. 22, 2022.

"Supporting each other is important," Duran told The Dispatch. "It's a very hard time as a family to go through this because of the amount of time they allow to transpire between an incident and actually make it into court. As a family, you just feel like people forgot. People move on with their life. But for us, we're stuck in limbo."

The same special prosecuting attorneys on this trial, Gary Shroyer and Tim Merkle, are handling Anderson's prosecution and secured an indictment from a grand jury in August 2023. Two of the defense attorneys representing Meade, Mark Collins and Stephens, are also representing Anderson. The pair is the go-to for officers in trouble in Columbus.

Testimony of use-of-force expert gets contentious

The testimony of Kevin Davis, a former Akron police officer testifying in Meade's defense, got contentious Wednesday afternoon in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

After a bevy of sidebars and objections during Davis' direct testimony, Davis and Montgomery County Assistant Prosecutor Josh Shaw, who is assisting special prosecutors Gary Shroyer and Tim Merkle in the case, sparred.

Shaw asked Davis whether Goodson would have believed Meade was a law enforcement officer. Prosecutors had not alleged before Wednesday, including in their opening statements, that Goodson had not believed that Meade was in law enforcement.

Previous testimony in the trial had shown Meade wearing a bulletproof vest that had "US Marshals" on the front and back.

Use-of-force expert testifying in Meade's defense

Kevin Davis, a former Akron police officer who has testified as an expert in use-of-force cases involving police around the country, took the stand Wednesday afternoon. He testified that he considers Meade's use of force reasonable given the circumstances surrounding the encounter with Goodson.

Davis has testified in other cases in Ohio, including the trial of Andrew Mitchell, a former Columbus police officer. Mitchell had been charged with murder and voluntary manslaughter in connection with the Aug. 23, 2018, death of Donna Dalton Castleberry. Mitchell was ultimately aquitted by a jury of those charges.

Meade coworker testifies he saw Casey Goodson run to house

Columbus police officer Ryan Rosser, who was working with Meade on the U.S. Marshal's Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Task Force, testified Wednesday about what occurred on Dec. 4, 2020.

Rosser said after an unsuccessful search for a suspect, he, Meade and other task force officers took off their gear and started to leave Estates Place around noon that day.

Rosser said he had been behind Meade, who was in an unmarked pick-up truck, and he followed as Meade did a U-turn on Ferris Road.

"He had a scared, panicked look on his face and said, 'We gotta go, he's got a gun, he's got a gun,'" Rosser testified.

Rosser said after also turning around, he saw Meade pull over, run to the tailgate of his unmarked truck and put on his tactical gear. Rosser said at that point, he saw a male standing in the street next to a car who appeared to look in the direction of Meade.

Rosser said Meade got back in his truck and drove toward the man, who had started to walk in the yard toward the side door of a home.

"At this point, the male picks up speed," Rosser said, describing the walk as a hurried pace that he has seen people use when they see a cruiser or a police officer to get out of sight but try not to draw additional attention.

"It was a sprint at the very end," Rosser said of the man, later identified as Goodson, going to the home.

Rosser said he heard Meade give commands to the male to show his hands and heard gunshots. He said he ran to where he'd last seen Meade, near the side door of the home.

Rosser said he also wore a holster similar to what Goodson was wearing in his waistband, which did not have a restraining strap on the top of it. Rosser said he'd never had the firearm fall out of the holster after falling, as prosecutors said had happened with Goodson's firearm.

Meade testifies he doesn't remember turning truck lights on

During cross examination Wednesday morning, Special Prosecutor Gary Shroyer asked Meade about flashing emergency lights on his unmarked truck.

Shroyer asked Meade if he knew whether the lights on the truck were on when Meade parked outside the Estates Place home. Shroyer then played video appearing to show Meade going to the truck and the lights coming on the truck.

"I don't remember that," Meade said.

Meade also said he didn't have time to take cover because he was actively pursuing Goodson, who was a suspect at the time.

"This is a matter of moments I have to make this decision. My duty is to stop him," Meade testified.

On redirect examination from Mark Collins, one of his attorneys, Meade said he was focused on the car Goodson was in and Goodson's actions.

"When you saw that gun pointed back at you, what was your intent?" Collins asked.

"To not die, to protect myself," Meade answered.

"Is that why you fired the weapon?" Collins asked.

"Yes, sir," Meade responded.

Meade's defense is planning to call additional witnesses Wednesday morning.

How do I watch the Jason Meade trial?

The Franklin County Common Pleas Court is equipped with cameras in each courtroom that provide the ability to live stream proceedings.

The stream for Judge David Young's courtroom can be found here.

The judge controls the live stream from the bench, and the feed is only on when court is in session. The judge can also control whether some evidence, such as photos that may be graphic or sensitive, are shown to the public and streamed.

What did Meade say when he testified on direct examination?

Meade, a member of the sheriff's office SWAT team, was working as a member of the U.S. Marshals Service's fugitive task force on Dec. 4, 2020, serving a search warrant at a house on Estates Place, down the same street from where Goodson lived with his grandmother and which was unrelated to Goodson. After not finding their suspect, task force members left in different vehicles.

As he left, Meade testified that he saw a man, later identified as Goodson, drive past him while pointing a gun at him in his unmarked truck. Meade said Goodson was holding a pistol, making a "pumping" action and appeared to be saying something.

“It was very clear. I could see the weapon in his hand," Meade said.

Meade said he flinched when Goodson pointed a gun at him, and he aired over the radio what he saw to his federal fugitive task force members. According to Meade and videos played at trial, Meade made a U-turn and pursued Goodson down Estates Place. He said he turned on flashing blue and red lights on his truck.

One of Meade's attorneys, Mark Collins, asked, "Why can't you just call it in?"

"I’m a law enforcement officer. It’s my duty to respond. That’s my job," Meade said. "Because the threat that he posed."

Meade said that during his pursuit, he pulled over on Estates Place and retrieved his tactical vest from the vault in his truck bed. He said he saw Goodson down the street, parking on the wrong side of the street and getting out of his car.

“He had a plastic bag in his left hand, and in the right hand, he still had the gun," Meade said. "He saw me and took off."

Meade said he lost sight of Goodson. He said he got back in his truck and drove to the house, where he said he saw Goodson duck behind a fence.

Meade said he got out of his truck and repeatedly shouted that he was police and told Goodson to drop his weapon.

Meade said he stopped just outside the fence and saw Goodson standing with his back to Meade at a side entry door to a house. Goodson had opened the storm door and was trying to enter the house, according to Meade. At that time, Meade said he couldn't see Goodson's hands.

While Meade continued to yell commands, Meade said Goodson dropped his shoulders.

"I thought he was going to surrender. I thought it was going to be over," Meade said. "At which point, he made a turn and pointed a gun back toward me."

That's when Meade said he pulled the trigger on his military-style rifle, sending a burst of bullets at Goodson.

Meade testified that he called over the radio for medics to be sent immediately and proceeded to secure the scene so paramedics could get to Goodson.

Six shots from Meade's rifle struck Goodson, five in the back and one in the side, according to a Franklin County Coroner's report and testimony earlier in the trial. Goodson fell dead into the kitchen of his grandmother's house, where he resided. His gun, the safety still on, according to earlier trial testimony, was found next to him on the kitchen floor.

A prosecution witness had testified that the gun Goodson had a concealed carry permit to have could have come out of Goodson's holster when he fell forward because there was no restraining strap on it. On cross-examination by the defense, that witness acknowledged that from some 20 feet or more away, where Meade was, he could not have seen whether the safety was on or not.

Defense gets ahead of Meade's comments as a pastor

The defense team tried Tuesday to get ahead of potentially damaging comments Meade had made as a pastor about his use of force on his job. The special prosecutors had indicated they might bring up a recording of Meade, a pastor at Rosedale Free Will Baptist Church, speaking in 2018 to a group of fellow pastors at a conference.

The Dispatch reported in December 2020 about that recording after Goodson's death. In the recording, Meade spoke about the Biblical story of David and Goliath and about how he is justified in throwing the first punch.

Collins asked Meade on the stand about comments he made at that conference. Meade explained, for example, that he said then, "I hunt people," in a reference to the TV series "Manhunt," which originally aired from 2017 to 2020.

What did Meade say during cross-examination Tuesday?

During cross-examination Tuesday, one of the special prosecutors, Gary Shroyer, asked Meade about differences between his testimony and the statement he gave in the weeks following the shooting. Shroyer said Meade previously stated Goodson's vehicle stopped in the intersection as he pointed a gun, but according to video, that wasn't true. Meade admitted he was wrong on that detail.

"You were mistaken as to what the driver of that car was doing," Shroyer said.

"No, he pointed his gun at me," Meade said. "There's no mistaking somebody pointing a gun at you. If anybody ever does it, you'll never forget it."

Shroyer asked Meade if he turned on his sirens, to which Meade said he did the best he could as fast as he could given the situation.

Shroyer also asked if Meade considered that the house Goodson was entering could be where he lived, given that he was using keys to open the door.

"I (didn't) understand why he parked the wrong way and then he bypassed the entire front of the house and then cut in an open gate. That made me believe this wasn't his place at all," Meade said. "I had no idea or no reason to think that this was his house at all."

There were no eyewitnesses to the actual shooting, and Franklin County sheriff's deputies did not at that time have body cameras, so there was no video footage of the shooting. Sheriff Dallas Baldwin and the county commissioners came under criticism over deputies not having body cameras when Columbus and many other area police departments did.

When will there be a verdict in the Meade trial?

Many of the key witnesses in the case have already testified in the case. After Meade's testimony is concluded, there is likely to be a use of force expert testify on Meade's behalf.

The prosecution in the case is also likely to present a rebuttal case, including their own use of force expert.

After all the testimony is concluded, each side will offer a closing argument and the jury will begin deliberations.

There is no way to determine how long a jury will deliberate in a case.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Jason Meade trial: Case delayed until Tuesday morning