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u.s. news Diaranson 9 December 2020

Family: Black man shot by deputy held a sandwich, not a gun

(AP) — A U.S. attorney said Tues- tion.” But the investigation bureau
day that investigators from the believed Columbus police mishan-
Justice Department and FBI will dled the process needed for the state
help review the fatal shooting to take the case, leaving it no choice
by an Ohio sheriff ’s deputy of a but to decline, according to the office
Black man whose family says that of Attorney General Dave Yost, a Re-
he was holding a sandwich, not a publican.
gun, and that he was shot in front Ginther signed an order in June re-
of his grandmother and two tod- quiring the bureau to investigate all
dlers while inside his home, not deaths involving Columbus police as
outside it. a result of racial-injustice protests that
followed the police killings of George
After the state attorney general’s of- Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna
fice said it wouldn’t be able to inves- Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.
tigate because Columbus police took The order came after public criticism
too long to bring the case to their at- of internal investigations of police,
tention, the office of U.S. Attorney by police, and stated that such probes
David M. DeVillers in Ohio said create “a perception that police use
Tuesday that it would look into the of force is unchecked, unlawful and
matter along with the Justice Depart- unsafe.”
ment’s Civil Rights Division, the FBI The process of seeking an indepen-
in Ohio and the local police. dent probe, according to the attorney
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office general, should begin with a call from
first reported Friday the fatal shooting police to the Bureau of Criminal In-
of a man that day on the north side vestigation when incidents occur.
of Columbus. It wasn’t until Sunday, “We received a referral to take a
more than 48 hours later, that police three-day-old officer-involved shoot-
revealed details such as the name of ing case,” a spokesperson for Yost said
the victim, Casey Goodson Jr., and in a statement Monday night. “Not iff’s Office, had been assigned to a tails that raise cause for extreme con-
the deputy who was involved. knowing all the reasons as to why so U.S. Marshals Office fugitive task cern,” the attorneys’ statement reads,
Since then, Goodson’s family mem- much time has passed before the case force. including the object Goodson was
bers and law enforcement officials was referred to BCI, we cannot ac- The task force had just finished an holding. Police say it was a gun that
have given conflicting details. The cept this case. unsuccessful search for a fugitive Fri- was later recovered from the scene;
sheriff’s office does not provide of- day afternoon when Goodson, who his family says Goodson was holding
ficers with body cameras, but depu- “BCI is the first call because we can- was not the suspect, drove by and a Subway sandwich.
ties’ vehicles do have dash-mounted not be the subject matter experts un- waved a gun at Meade, according to “At this point, witness testimony and
cameras. The Associated Press has less we’re on scene from the begin- U.S. Marshal Peter Tobin. physical evidence raise serious con-
requested that footage. ning to document the evidence of Meade confronted him outside cerns about why Casey was even con-
Mayor Andrew Ginther attempted what happened from the start,” the Goodson’s vehicle in front of the fronted, let alone why he was shot
Monday to send the probe into the statement continued. “Three days man’s home, Tobin said. dead while entering his own home,”
shooting of Goodson by Frank- later after the crime scene has been Tobin reported that one witness heard the lawyers added.
lin County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason dismantled” and witnesses have dis- Meade command Goodson to drop The statement also pushed back on
Meade to the state Bureau of Crimi- persed, “does not work.” his gun and that when he didn’t, the the detail about Goodson carrying a
nal Investigation, which the attorney But on Tuesday, DeVillers’ office deputy shot him. Goodson was taken gun, saying even if that were the case,
general’s office oversees, to ensure made the announcement that it to a hospital, where he died. he had a license to carry a concealed
“another layer of independence.” would work with other agencies to weapon in Ohio.
“review the facts and circumstances” But attorneys for Goodson’s family The case now remains under the
“We have felt the pain of police-in- of Goodson’s shooting and “take ap- say that he was shot while walking in jurisdiction of the Columbus Divi-
volved shootings across the country propriate action if the evidence indi- his home, and that his grandmoth- sion of Police Critical Incident and
this year,” Ginther tweeted. “Every cates any federal civil rights laws were er and two toddlers witnessed the Response Team because the sheriff’s
loss of life is tragic, and each deserves violated.” shooting. office has a policy not to oversee in-
a thorough and transparent investiga- Meade, a 17-year veteran of the Sher- Tobin’s narrative leaves out “key de- vestigations into its own deputies.

Judge dismisses Flynn case following pardon from Trump

(AP) — A federal judge But he also stressed that a par-
on Tuesday dismissed the don, by itself, did not mean
criminal case against for- that Flynn was innocent.
mer Trump administra-
tion national security ad- Flynn had twice pleaded
viser Michael Flynn, two guilty to lying to the FBI
weeks after a pardon from about his contacts during the
the president effectively presidential transition period
ended the case. with the Russian ambassador.

The order from U.S. District “The history of the Constitu-
Judge Emmet Sullivan was tion, its structure, and the Su-
largely procedural in light of preme Court’s interpretation
the pardon from President of the pardon power make
Donald Trump, which wiped clear that President Trump’s
away Flynn’s conviction for decision to pardon Mr. Flynn
lying to the FBI during the is a political decision, not a
Russia investigation. legal one,” Sullivan wrote.
“Because the law recognizes
Sullivan made clear in a 43- the President’s political pow-
page order that he was com- er to pardon, the appropriate
pelled to dismiss the case be- course is to dismiss this case
cause of the pardon. as moot.