Friday was the first full day of witness testimony at the murder trial of Ian Cranston in the death of Barry Washington Jr. Among those testifying — Cranston’s fiancé.
Cranston is accused of shooting Washington, 22, on the sidewalk at NW Oregon Ave. and NW Wall St. after an argument early on Sept. 19, 2021.
Cranston has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter, first-degree assault, and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon.
Allison Butler, Cranston’s fiancé, testified that she was present for the entire incident.
“It happened so fast that I didn’t redirect myself to look at Ian. I just kind of reached out towards him to make sure he was still standing up. I just remember how thunderously loud they were. At that moment I just couldn’t know if he was going to be okay or not,” Butler said on the stand.
The morning session Friday started with testimony from Bend Police Officer Cody Lyter, who was the first officer on the scene.
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Prosecutors showed body cam footage and the firearm used in the shooting.
The footage showed Washington, on the ground, coming in an out of consciousness. At one point in the video, Washington is heard saying “take me home” and “I need help.”
A second officer, Leanne Boileau, testified that Cranston appeared to be applying pressure to Washington’s wound at Lyter’s suggestion. She also testified that Cranston said at the scene, “It was me.”
Later in Lyter’s video, Lyter and Cranston speak as Cranston is being taken to the police station. Cranston asks “Is he going to be OK?” to which Lyter replies “I don’t know.”
Then at the station, Cranston is heard saying “I just want to be as helpful as possible.” At another point he says, “This is not the situation I want to be in.”
Opening Arguments
Both sides then presented their opening arguments before the jury Thursday with the prosecution arguing that Cranston’s pride was his core motivation for the killing.
“On September 19 2021, in Downtown Bend, events occurred that wounded this man’s pride, and bruised his ego,” Prosecuting Attorney Michael Swart said.
He described the events of the night, when Washington hit on Cranston’s girlfriend, Allison Butler inside The Capitol. When Butler told Washington she was engaged, he backed off, until another encounter outside on the sidewalk a few minutes later.
Washington approached the group and again proceeded to flirt with Butler, and according to Swart, Cranston and his friend Tyler Smith told him to ‘move along, she’s taken.’
Barry Washington then became ‘angry’, Swart said.
“Without any notice to Ian Cranston, Barry punched Ian in the face,” he said. “After Barry punched him, Ian took out his handgun and waited 30 long seconds to take his revenge, to look for an opportunity to assuage his pride.”
Swart said that although Washington did punch Cranston in the face, there was no evidence showing that Washington attacked him a second time or that Cranston was at risk of death.
“This is nothing more than a bar fight over an argument over a woman, and Ian Cranston using disproportionate amount of force in this case,” Swart said. “By the end of this case you will see that Ian Cranston’s actions were unjustified, unreasonable, and unsupported.”
The defense, represented by Kevin Sali, argued that Cranston was defending himself against an attacker who was bigger and stronger.
“Ian Cranston knows he has no chance at all in physical confrontation, so he draws the firearm that he lawfully carried,” Sali said.
He said self-defense was a reasonable motivation for Cranston to shoot, after Washington punched him twice in the face. Photos of Cranston’s injuries following the altercation were shown to the jury.
“You will hear that a man in Mr. Cranston’s position has the right to fire a shot if he reasonably believes that there is a threat of physical injury, which is indisputably the case,” Sali said.
The jury also heard from witness James Kinsella, who was a supervising detective with Bend PD the night of the shooting.
He verified the source and contents of four different videos, which showed various angles of the altercation and shooting.
