Jason Meade's bail questioned by Casey Goodson's family; law expert explains why so low - ABC6OnYourSide.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — A judge set a $250,000 bond for former Franklin County Sheriff deputy Jason Meade to get out of jail before trial. Many in the community and Casey Goodson Jr.’s family feel the amount set was too low.
However, as a law expert explains, setting bail is based on flight risk and if the person is a danger to the community.
"It's a little lower than what a traditional bail would be for a crime like murder. The average in Ohio is about $1 million for a murder case,” said Ric Simmons, a former prosecutor, and current professor at the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University.
Meade was charged with murder and reckless murder for the deadly shooting of Goodson Jr. He pleaded not guilty and posted his quarter of million-dollar bond about two hours after the hearing.
"It's not meant as a punishment or a sign of how bad this person is, how bad what they did was that's going to come in the sentencing phase if he's convicted,” Simmons said.
Meade's attorney asked for a reasonable bond however, the lawyer for Goodson's family said it should have been at least $1 million.
"But it's important to remember that the severity of the crime isn't the only factor determining what the bail should be. So, in Ohio, we set the bong based on flight risk and whether you're a danger to the community,” Simmons said.
Simmons said he believes the judge felt Meade wasn't a flight risk.
"He knew these charges were coming for a long time and he would have done so. And there's no indication that he made any plans or tried to do that so I think it would be very hard for a prosecutor to say this person now is so likely to flee we have to set a very, very high bail. So, I think the judge, in this case, didn't think there should be a high bail,” Simmons said.
Just less than a year ago, a $3 million bond was set for Columbus Police Officer Adam Coy, who was indicted in the shooting death of Andre' Hill. It was later lowered to $1 million.
Simmons said in this case, he feels the judge was trying to send a message.
"Each judge gets their own discretion deciding what kind of bail to set and I don't want to second guess the judge in the Adam Coy case but sometimes judges do want to send a message to the community and do want to tell a community to take a case seriously,” Simmons said.
source: https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/jason-meades-bail-questioned-by-casey-goodsons-family-law-expert-explains-why-so-low
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