For a third time, former Franklin County Sheriff’s deputy Jason Meade willl stand trial on a murder charge in connection with the December 2020 shooting death of Casey Goodson Jr.
Juries have twice been unable to reach a unanimous decision about whether Meade is guilty of murder during trials in February 2024 and April 2026. The April trial ended with the jury convicting Meade of reckless homicide.
In a June 25 court filing, Meade’s attorneys said special prosecutors intend to try him a third time on the murder charge, so a scheduled June 30 sentencing for his reckless homicide conviction will be changed to a bond hearing where Meade’s defense attorneys will seek his release on bond pending the third murder trial. .
Meade is not the first law enforcement officer to face multiple criminal trials in Franklin County. Former Columbus police officer Andrew Mitchell twice stood trial on a murder charge connected to the Aug. 23, 2018, shooting death of Donna Dalton Castleberry. A jury found Mitchell not guilty during the second trial.
While having a case go to trial a third time is rare, it is not unprecedented.
Prosecutors can decide to take a case to trial as many times as they want until there’s a verdict on every count in an indictment, or they can choose to dismiss the case or resolve it another way.
Ryan Widmer, of Warren County, stood trial four times on a murder charge before he was convicted in the drowning death of his wife, Sarah. Widmer was convicted during his first trial, but an appeals court overturned the verdict. Two more trials ended in hung juries before the conviction verdict in the fourth trial.
Christopher Anderson, of Mahoning County, went to trial five times. Two ended in hung juries, two ended in mistrials for other reasons and one ended in a conviction that an appeals court later overturned. Prior to a sixth trial, Anderson reached a plea deal with prosecutors.
In Summit County, prosecutors have vowed to go to trial a second time in the case of multiple former FirstEnergy executives accused of bribing lawmakers.
Sam Sheppard, a Cleveland-area doctor, faced two trials in the death of his wife. In 1954, a jury convicted Sheppard, but when an appeals court overturned the conviction, a second trial ended with Sheppard being found not guilty. The case has been the inspiration behind movies like “The Lawyer” and “The Fugitive.”
Attorney F. Lee Bailey, who later gained notoriety for being a part of O.J. Simpson’s legal team in his 1995 murder trial, served as Sheppard’s attorney for his appeal and his attorney in the second trial.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Multiple murder trials are rare. Here’s what it means for Jason Meade
Reporting by Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
