New court filings indicate special prosecutors will try a former Franklin County deputy on a murder charge for a third time.
The information about a third trial was included in a motion filed by attorneys for Michael Jason Meade on June 25. Meade, a former Franklin County Sheriff’s deputy, has been held in jail since May 7 when a jury convicted him of reckless homicide. The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on a murder charge Meade faced.
The charges Meade faces are in connection with the Dec. 4, 2020, shooting death of 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr.
Common Pleas Court Judge David Young revoked Meade’s bond at the time of conviction and scheduled sentencing for June 16.
Because the Franklin County Prosecutor’s office and special prosecutors Tim Merkle and Gary Shroyer had not yet decided whether to pursue a third trial on the murder charge, the sentencing date moved to June 30.
Court records show Young granted a request by Meade’s attorneys to convert that June 30 date to a bond hearing. The request said prosecutors intended to try Meade for a third time on the murder charge, which would make sentencing him on the reckless homicide legally impermissible.
Should Meade be sentenced on the reckless homicide, the legal concept of double jeopardy would apply and a third retrial could not take place.
Following the jury’s inability to reach a verdict on the murder charge, Goodson’s family said they wanted to see the charge go to trial a third time.
Meade wants to remain free while awaiting third trial
Meade’s attorneys plan to argue on June 30 that he should be allowed to remain free on bond while the third murder trial is pending. Meade’s team cites eight Franklin County cases in which a person was convicted of reckless homicide and sentenced to probation. The motion also cites seven cases from elsewhere in Ohio where convictions for reckless homicide resulted in probation sentences, including a case where parents admitted to starving their infant to death.
“The reality remains that other individuals charged with – and even convicted of – reckless homicide have been permitted to remain at liberty,” Meade’s legal team wrote. “Whether the State wishes to acknowledge that fact is irrelevant; the principle of equal treatment under the law cannot be disregarded.”
In the motion, Meade’s attorneys say for Young to ignore the principles surrounding release conditions on bond would also mean depriving Meade of constitutionally guaranteed rights and ignoring the “current Franklin County Prosecutor’s entire platform it claims to be ‘guided by.'”
Meade’s lawyers also note that since his incarceration on May 7, Meade has had no write-ups in the jail.
“In spite of various unfounded accusations by the president of the NAACP Columbus chapter of Jason having access to a cell phone, which would be a violation of jail rules, he has NOT received ONE infraction,” Meade’s lawyers wrote.
Sean Walton, the NAACP Columbus president and the civil attorney representing Goodson’s family, posted on social media in the days after the verdict that he had information from unnamed people that Meade was being given special treatment while in custody.
When asked by The Dispatch about the claims, Walton said two members of the police union had reached out to him separately with information. The sheriff’s office refuted the claims.
Jason Meade’s previous trials
In February 2024, a jury could not reach a verdict on either the murder or reckless homicide counts Meade faced.
On Dec. 4, 2020, Meade – working as a member of a U.S. Marshals Task Force – said he saw Goodson waving a gun inside a car. Meade followed Goodson and approached him as Goodson went toward the side door of a home on Estates Place.
Meade’s statement said Goodson ignored verbal commands to show his hands and put his gun down, instead pointing the firearm at him. Meade fired a single burst from his department-issued rifle, which was set to automatic fire mode. Six shots were fired, all of which struck Goodson.
Five of the six shots struck Goodson in the back and one struck him in the side. Goodson’s family and special prosecutors said Goodson was returning to his grandmother’s home from a dentist appointment with Subway sandwiches and Goodson never pulled a gun.
Evidence at Meade’s trials included testimony that Goodson had earbuds in at the time and his phone was playing YouTube Music, however, it is unknown at what volume or if the phone was connected to the earbuds.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Prosecutors will take former deputy’s murder case to trial a third time
Reporting by Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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By Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
