The household of Casey Goodson Jr., a Black man who was shot and killed by an Ohio sheriff’s deputy, will obtain $7 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit over the December 2020 taking pictures.
The Franklin County Board of Commissioners unanimously authorised the settlement late final month.
Goodson, 23, was shot multiple times as he tried to enter his grandmother’s Columbus residence. His loss of life — one in every of a number of involving Black individuals killed by white Ohio legislation enforcement officers over the previous decade — got here on the finish of a yr by which mass protests swept the nation over the homicide of George Floyd. Goodson’s identify was added to rallying cries in protests over racial injustice in policing.
Goodson’s household issued an announcement calling the settlement historic.
“The settlement permits Casey’s household to resolve their civil claims in opposition to Franklin County, enabling them to pay attention totally on the upcoming homicide retrial of Michael Jason Meade,” household lawyer Sean Walton stated. “Whereas no sum of money can ever compensate for the lack of Casey, this settlement is an important acknowledgment of the profound influence his loss of life has had on his household and the broader neighborhood.”
Meade was charged with murder and reckless homicide, however a mistrial was introduced in February when a jury couldn’t agree on a verdict, ending tumultuous proceedings that noticed 4 jurors dismissed. Prosecutors quickly introduced he would face a retrial, which is scheduled to begin Oct. 31, however they’ve since dropped one of the two murder counts he confronted.
Meade has pleaded not responsible, and his legal professionals have stated the prosecution’s determination to hunt one other trial was attributable to political stress from native elected officers.
Meade testified that Goodson waved a gun at him as the 2 drove previous one another, so he pursued Goodson as a result of he stated he feared for his life and the lives of others. He stated he ultimately shot Goodson as a result of the younger man turned towards him with a gun.
Goodson’s household and prosecutors have stated he was holding a sandwich bag in a single hand and his keys within the different when he was fatally shot. They don’t dispute that Goodson might have been carrying a gun and word that he had a license to hold a firearm.
Goodson’s handgun, which had an prolonged journal, was discovered on his grandmother’s kitchen ground with the security mechanism engaged.
Meade was not sporting a physique digicam so there is no such thing as a footage of the taking pictures, and prosecutors repeatedly asserted through the first trial that Meade is the one one who testified Goodson was holding a gun.
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