International Courant
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 associated to the December 2020 taking pictures.
The Franklin County Board of Commissioners unanimously permitted the settlement late final month.
Goodson, 23, was shot a number of occasions as he tried to enter his grandmother’s Columbus house. His dying — one in all many black folks killed by white law enforcement officials in Ohio up to now decade — got here on the finish of a yr by which mass protests have swept the nation over the killing of George FloydGoodson’s title was added to protests towards racial injustice in policing.
Goodson’s household launched a press release calling the settlement historic.
“The settlement permits Casey’s household to resolve their civil claims towards Franklin County, permitting them to totally concentrate on the upcoming homicide trial of Michael Jason Meade,” stated household lawyer Sean Walton. “Whereas no sum of money can ever compensate for Casey’s loss, this settlement is a vital recognition of the profound influence his dying has had on his household and the broader group.”
Meade was accused of homicide and reckless manslaughterhowever in February a mistrial was introduced when a jury couldn’t agree in a verdict, ending a tumultuous continuing that noticed 4 jurors dismissed. Prosecutors shortly introduced he would get a brand new trial, scheduled to start Oct. 31, however they’ve since one of many two homicide costs dropped he confronted.
Meade has denied any wrongdoing and his attorneys say the prosecution’s choice to hunt a brand new trial was the results of political stress from native elected officers.
Meade testified that Goodson waved a gun at him as the 2 drove previous one another, so he chased Goodson as a result of he stated he feared for his life and the lives of others. He stated he finally shot Goodson as a result of the younger man turned to 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 could have had a weapon, noting that he was licensed to hold a firearm.
Goodson’s gun, with an prolonged journal, was discovered on his grandmother’s kitchen ground with the security engaged.
Meade was not carrying a physique digicam, so there is no such thing as a footage of the taking pictures. Moreover, prosecutors repeatedly argued throughout the first trial that Meade was the one one who testified that Goodson was holding a gun.
Ohio household reaches $7 million settlement in deadly police taking pictures of 23-year-old
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