Oregon appeals court overturns Ian Cranston’s manslaughter conviction in Bend shooting death of Barry Washington Jr.
Barney Lerten
BEND, Ore. KTVZ) — The Oregon Court of Appeals has reversed and remanded the manslaughter conviction of Ian Cranston in the September 2021 shooting death of Barry Washington Jr. in downtown Bend, due to a special instruction related to self-defense that was not given to the jury.
Cranston was sentenced to 10 years in prison after the jury reached its verdict in the fall of 2022.
He is currently incarcerated at the Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario, his defense attorney, Kevin Sali of Portland, told KTVZ News.
The key issue in the court’s 11-page ruling filed Wednesday on Cranston’s appeal was a special jury instruction that his defense attorneys had sought, but which was not given to the jury by Deschutes County Circuit Judge Beth Bagley.
“Defendant argues that the trial court erred when it refused to use his special jury instruction regarding the absence of a duty to retreat under Oregon self-defense law. We agree with defendant that, on this record, the trial court erred by not instructing the jury to that effect. Because the error was not harmless, we reverse and remand” the case to Deschutes County.
The court said the instruction “reads: ‘Oregon law does not impose a duty to retreat before a person can use deadly force in self-defense or in defense of another person.’ That is an accurate statement of the law. … There are no ‘additional requirement[s],’ such as a duty to retreat, before using deadly force in self-defense or defense of others; there are only the requirements imposed by the plain text of the self-defense statutes.”
“In the end, we look to the state’s arguments, evidence, and jury instructions as a whole—in the light most favorable to defendant—and conclude that the special instruction was required as a matter of law,” the court said.
Defense attorney Sali provided this statement to KTVZ News Friday, in reaction to the court ruling:
“We have always believed that a jury given correct instructions about the law of self-defense would find that Ian’s actions were fully lawful and justified. We are grateful to the Court of Appeals for recognizing that the jury in the first trial was not instructed properly, and we expect that in the second trial there will be no doubt about Ian’s innocence.”
District Attorney Steve Gunnels also spoke with us about where things stand and what happens from here.
“Currently, the Oregon Department of Justice is considering whether to petition the Oregon Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeals decision,” Gunnels said. “We should know that within the next month.”
After a two-week trial and more than six hours of deliberation, a jury acquitted Cranston on a second-degree murder charge, but found him guilty of first- and second-degree manslaughter for firing the fatal shot — an act he testified was in self-defense, after being punched by Washington. He chose not to speak at his sentencing.
The Court of Appeals ruling came just days after a permanent memorial was unveiled in Washington’s honor on the downtown Bend street where the fatal shooting occurred.