There is also no body cam footage of the event, and Meade is the only person who says that Goodson held a gun.
A jury was unable to come to a verdict in the murder and reckless homicide trial of Jason Meade, the white former Ohio sheriff’s deputy accused of shooting and killing a Black man, Casey Goodson Jr.
Judge David Young initially declared a mistrial Feb. 16 then instructed jurors to continue deliberating. The jurors eventually returned, some of them crying, and informed Young that they could not reach a verdict after two additional hours of trying.
Following the initial hung jury, Mitchell was found not guilty in a second trial. Mark R. Weaver, an attorney who has been a special prosecutor in multiple counties around Ohio, told the outlet ahead of Young’s declaration that he believed the jury would not come to a consensus. “The cases that bring national controversies and division into the courtroom…no one should be surprised when the jury, which is just a representative pool of the county, divides similarly.”
Young will meet with prosecutors and the defense to figure out a way forward for the case.
“There were jurors back there that obviously felt that Jason Meade was responsible for the unjustifiable killing of Casey Goodson. And that should make a statement.” Sean Walton, an attorney representing the Goodson family, told NBC News.
During his testimony, Meade alleged that Goodson waved a gun at him as they drove past each other in traffic, which made him fear for his life and others. Meade said that he shot Goodson after he turned toward him with a gun pointed in his direction.
Goodson’s family does not dispute that he may have had a gun on him—Goodson had a license to carry in Ohio—but noted that the only things he was holding when he was killed were keys and a sandwich bag.
Goodson’s weapon was later found on the floor of his grandmother’s kitchen with the safety on, which seems to dispute Meade’s version of events. There is also no body cam footage of the event, and Meade is the only person who said Goodson held a gun. During the encounter, Meade was not equipped with a body camera.
During their closing arguments, the prosecution claimed that Meade’s statements about Goodson being an active threat toward him were lies; the defense claimed that the evidence presented in the case was consistent with their client’s testimony.
During the trial, the jury appeared to be unsettled as multiple jurors were dismissed and replaced with alternates while one was dismissed, all of which created a situation where the jury had to restart multiple times during the trial. Ohio officials did not offer a reason for the jury dismissals.
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Source: Black Enterprise
