Trial Of Amish Mother’s Accused Killer Moved (Again) – Until At Least March 2025

This is the second time the trial of Shawn C. Cranston, accused of killing 23-year-old pregnant Amish mother Rebekah Byler, has been moved.

Cranston was originally meant to be tried in June, but the defense team got a continuance due to having to process “large amounts” of evidence.

Cranston had a preliminary hearing in March, which revealed that he had driven for the Amish.

Later, court documents were unsealed, revealing further details, including Cranston’s membership in an “outlaw” biker gang, potential burned evidence, and his otherwise strange behavior around the Amish.

In May, we learned the trial had been moved to the autumn period (at least November). Now, Cranston won’t go to trial until at least March 2025. From the Erie Times-News:

The trial for 52-year-old Shawn C. Cranston, which had been scheduled for November, was moved to March, Crawford County District Attorney Paula DiGiacomo said Friday. The trial was moved after Cranston’s Pittsburgh lawyer, Louis Emmi, requested a continuance this week. Crawford County Judge Francis J. Schultz granted the continuance in an order issued on Thursday, according to court records.

Cranston will now face trial a little more than a year after the Pennsylvania State Police allege he killed Rebekah A. Byler, 23, in her home on Fish Flats Road in Sparta Township, Crawford County, on Feb. 26. Authorities said Byler was about six months pregnant at the time. Two young children, ages 3 and 2, were also home at the time but were uninjured.

Why was the trial moved again?

So if you’re looking for a reason in this report, well so was I. No explanation is given as to why it was moved – either in this excerpt, or in the full linked report.

So I had a look at the Crawford County, PA court website and found the continuance motion document. Here’s what I found there by way of explanation:

“This matter involves an enormous amount of Discovery, for which Counsel for the Defendant is still reviewing and preparing the defense.

Conversations with the Defendant are difficult in that, even at the Jail, they are not totally private, so it takes additional time to review information and have questions answered.

District Attorney DiGiacomo has consented to this request.

Counsel is requesting that this matter be schedules on March Trial List, at which time, Defendant’s counsel shall have completed review of all information and be able to properly prepare for Trial.”

So it sounds simply like the Defense asked for more time for the Discovery process and – and this part surprised me a bit – for simply communicating with Cranston at the jail.

It seems like that second reason – lack of complete privacy – would apply to anyone held in the same jail. So I’m not seeing why it would be unique to this case and thus a reason in and of itself.

The Byler home in NW Pennsylvania. Image: Fox 66 News

However, if there is more than the usual amount of Discovery material to review, this might require more than the typical amount of communication with the defendant.

So maybe the two reasons given here are connected. And now this is the part where I underline that I have no legal background, just speculating here.

Additionally, jury selection had been scheduled for November 12. I’m not seeing anything about how this delay will affect that.

In any case, I imagine it’s not a pleasant thing for the families involved here, waiting for their day in court and having it delayed multiple times. But for justice to be properly done, I suppose this is necessary.

Assuming Cranston does go to trial in March 2025, then a little over a year will have passed since Rebekah Byler and her unborn child were brutally murdered in the Bylers’ Pennsylvania home.

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4 Comments

  1. Kim Pulliam

    Trial

    Often times it seems that within the judicial system the criminal (alleged) has more rights than the victim.
    I can only imagine the pain this family has endured and still endures while waiting for it to move through the justice system.
    Most jails don’t offer privacy for anyone, let alone lawyers and inmate clients. So that doesn’t seem to be a very substantial reason for a continuous.

    1. Difficult for the family, but in line with their rights

      I don’t want to minimise the potential impact on the family of the victim of further delays, but making sure the innocent accused are acquitted is not a clash of rights, in that when someone who is not guilty is convicted, the victim and the family are denied justice too. There’s nothing offers more merely human impunity for the actual criminal, than the case being closed and investigation ceasing on the basis of a false conviction.

      As to the privacy issue, it sounds as if that urgently needs addressing, if the legal right not to be required to incriminate yourself – for which there is good reason – is to be upheld properly. The accused needs to be able to talk to their lawyer in confidence. Otherwise they don’t have proper representation. And if this is a reason for a delay to a trial, it’s already been the cause of an injustice to both sides (delay of closure on the one, six extra months in prison on the other).

  2. K.D.

    Trial Date Moved . . . Again

    Hello, Erik . . .
    Thanks for the update in the PA v. Cranston case. My heart breaks
    for her family/community. When and
    where did you learn of Cranston having
    been involved in a motorcycle gang?? This is news to me. Most jails and prisons
    allow for little to no privacy for the defendants in their custody, so I fail to see why a continuance would be needed in this case. But as people often say, God must have his reasons. I would love to know how Mrs. Byler’s husband and children are getting on these days. Sure hope they’ve been able to physically move from the house they lived in leading up to the tragedy they suffered there. Keep up the wonderful job!!

  3. Daisy

    right to a swift trial?

    Whatever happened to the right to a swift trial?