Judge orders mistrial for suspect in City Nights club shooting

A judge ordered a mistrial Wednesday, July 22, for a 40-year-old Portland man charged with attempted murder in connection with a December 2024 shooting at City Nights club in Eugene.

Desmond Boris Washington was arrested Jan. 17, 2025, according to jail records, in connection with a shooting just after 2 a.m., Dec. 8, 2024, that Eugene police said injured two people inside the club.

Wednesday, Lane County Circuit Judge Jay McAlpin cited a “discovery violation” in his order for a mistrial after attorneys filed opposing motions about evidence provided to defense counsel after Washington’s trial began July 16.

Willow Hillman, a defense attorney for Washington, filed a motion for dismissal of charges, citing how a murder trial earlier this month also ended in a mistrial after evidence was provided to defense attorneys after the trial’s start.

“It is apparent at this point that the Lane County district attorney’s office has a pattern and practice of not complying with their discovery obligations,” she wrote in a court filing.

Hillman stated that the “sheer volume” of evidence provided late “is clear evidence they are not meeting their obligations and until the Lane County Bench requires them to do so by actually sanctioning them for this pattern and practice, nothing will change.”

Deputy District Attorney Matthew Wojcik wrote that while Hillman listed “a significant number of items” not provided in a timely manner, “[m]ost of these materials contain information which was available to the defense in other formats.”

In addition to attempted murder, Washington has been indicted on charges of first-degree assault, third-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Court documents filed on behalf of Washington state the shooting took place in self-defense.

A hearing has been scheduled for Thursday on a motion seeking a release from jail for Washington pending a new trial.