4:30 p.m. update: The judge has dismissed the jury for the day. Deliberations will resume at 9 a.m. Friday.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – After six hours of deliberations, the jury started anew Thursday afternoon in the murder trial of a former deputy who killed a Black man at the door of his grandmother’s house in 2020.

Jurors returned to the deliberation room Thursday morning to decide whether to convict Jason Meade for the death of Casey Goodson Jr. But by 3 p.m., the judge brought them back into the courtroom to announce that their deliberations would have to restart — for the second time. Another juror had to be replaced by an alternate, leaving just one alternate juror remaining on standby.

The group deliberated for more than three hours Wednesday after listening to a morning full of closing arguments, but on Thursday, they had to start over; a juror was replaced with an alternate Wednesday evening, making it the second alternate to join the jury.

Meade was a Franklin County Sheriff’s deputy coming off an assignment with the U.S. Marshals Service when he fatally shot 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr. Meade has defended the shooting as necessary, claiming he saw Goodson wave a gun while driving and feared for his life when Goodson pointed that gun at him while standing in the threshold of his grandmother’s northwest Columbus house.

The state and Goodson’s family have argued that Goodson, who had a concealed carry permit, didn’t point his gun at Meade. Any commands Meade gave Goodson to drop his gun or put his hands up would have gone unheard, the state contends. Goodson was listening to music through AirPods when Meade shot him six times, five of which hit his back.

There is no footage of the incident, as the Marshals Service forbade body cameras at the time. And with no eyewitnesses to the actual shooting, the jury is deciding whose version of events is more compelling.

What happened during the trial?

Over two weeks of trial, jurors heard from more than 20 witnesses, including members of the Goodson family who were in the house during the shooting, the coroner who performed Goodson’s autopsy, an expert use-of-force witness and a law professor who researches policing in the U.S.

Attorneys presented dozens of exhibits, ranging from scene photos to body camera footage to the Subway receipt from Goodson’s sandwich order. At length, the prosecution and defense wove physical evidence with testimony to present their theories of the case to the jury.

To the prosecution, Meade behaved, at a minimum, recklessly when he shot Goodson six times with his automatic rifle. Special prosecutors Tim Merkle and Gary Shroyer urged the jury to closely evaluate Meade’s claims with the physical evidence they were shown. From the AirPods playing music in Goodson’s ears to the sandwich bag in his hand to the bullet holes through the metal storm door, Goodson could not have been a threat to Meade, the prosecution argued.

The safety was engaged on Goodson’s gun that was found in the kitchen near where he was shot. With just a cloth holster, the lead detective on the case testified that he would expect the gun to fall out if Goodson ran – or when he fell from being shot.

During cross-examination of Meade and in closing arguments, the prosecution honed in on inconsistencies in Meade’s written statement and testimony. Meade originally stated that he saw the gun when Goodson stopped at the intersection before turning, but security footage from a nearby church showed Goodson made a continuous left turn. Meade also claimed Goodson ran after he saw Meade, but the officer who followed Meade testified that Goodson walked toward the door of the house.

In closing, the prosecution hearkened back to what their expert policing practice witness, Seth Stoughton, testified on Tuesday: Meade’s actions did not align with generally accepted practices and principles of policing. He didn’t properly communicate with his fellow officers or give them the opportunity to arm themselves before he went after Goodson, Shroyer emphasized. Meade also failed to take cover, either behind his truck or a tree in the yard, to protect himself against the threat he said he observed.

“Just because Mr. Meade says, ‘I had to do this,’ you don’t have to accept that,” Merkle said. “Not if, looking at all the evidence, it doesn’t make sense.”

To the defense, the case is simple: Meade feared for his life because Goodson pointed his gun at him while in the threshold of the house. During both opening statements and closing arguments, defense attorneys urged the jury to reject the state’s arguments, emphasizing multiple times that prosecutors “started with a premise and worked backwards.”

Meade testified in his own defense for nearly four hours last week, describing in detail the moments before he shot Goodson. While waiting at a red light, Meade said he saw Goodson brandish a gun in a “pumping” fashion and point it at another driver before pointing it at Meade.

He said Goodson pointed the gun at him again after ignoring commands to drop the weapon. In the doorway of his grandmother’s house, Goodson allegedly pointed the gun with his back still turned to Meade.

The jury also heard from a former law enforcement officer and use-of-force expert who testified that he believed Meade had a “lawful objective” in using deadly force against Goodson. Several of the officers who took the stand testified that a person with a gun is still a threat, even if their back is turned. 

Other officers who have used cloth holsters disputed the prosecution’s assertion that Goodson’s gun would have fallen out of his holster upon being shot.

“Corroboration is not a coincidence,” attorney Mark Collins told jurors during closing arguments, pointing to the parts of Meade’s testimony that were supported by evidence, whether it be from footage or others’ testimony. He paused after making the U-turn to tell his fellow officer that he saw someone with a gun, and a neighbor who drove past Goodson’s house at the time testified that she heard someone shout commands to drop the gun.

Collins spent a significant amount of time discrediting the surprise witness who came forward late last week, highlighting inconsistencies among his interviews and testimony and narrowing in on the fact that he deleted his Facebook after being interviewed by the FBI.

“Are you going to rely upon the word of Christopher Corne for a surgery for a child or care for an elderly parent? Because that’s proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” Collins said. “Is that the evidence you’re going to rely on?