The Brenton Butler case (official Florida State v. Brenton Leonard Butler ) is a murder case in Jacksonville, Florida. During a shooting death investigation outside a motel in 2000, police arrested 15-year-old Brenton Butler and accused him of committing the murder. Butler later admitted the crime, and the case was heard. However, during his trial he testified that he had been persecuted in his confession, and he was released. The case received significant notice in the media, and was the subject of the award-winning documentary, Sunday Morning Murder .
Video Brenton Butler case
Case
In May 2000, two tourists from Florida were visited outside the Ramada Inn on University Boulevard. Mary Ann Stephens was shot in the head in front of her husband and the killer escaped. During the subsequent investigation, the police picked up Butler, a 15-year-old student at Englewood High School who was on his way to apply for a job to a local Blockbuster Video. Butler was taken to the victim's husband, who identified him as a murderer.
The police took Butler for interrogation without a parent or attorney present or informed his parents of his whereabouts, and forced him to confess to murder by signing an event scheduled by Detective Williams. Attorney General Harry Shorstein decided to prosecute the case. During the trial, Butler went on to testify that the two detectives involved in the investigation, including Michael Glover, Nat Glover's sheriff's son at the time, had physically harassed him and intimidated him to confess.
Butler was represented by Patrick McGuinness and Ann Finnell, two lawyers from the Public Defender's office. They gave Butler's picture with a bruise on his face, which they claimed was the result of the interrogation. The jury conferred for less than an hour before finding Butler innocent; a jury then quote testimony about interrogation as one of the key factors in their decision. State Attorney Shorstein and Jacksonville Sheriff Glover took unusual steps to apologize to Butler and reopen the case of two unrelated suspects. However, Michael Glover denies the charges against him, and Shorstein says there is no evidence that Butler has been physically tortured during the interrogation.
Maps Brenton Butler case
Legacy
After the case, the State Attorney's Office launched a jury investigation into the conduct of officers and prosecutors, while the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office began an internal affairs investigation. The grand jury investigation criticized prosecutors and police for handling their cases but found no evidence of criminal misconduct. The police disciplinary body requested the suspension of three officers and another penalty for two more, but these steps were then largely undone. Michael Glover retired from JSO and became a private detective, while Dwayne Darnell was transferred from the homicide division.
Butler's case opened a discussion of police interrogation video footage. At the time of investigation, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office was in discussion about the implementation of video recording during interrogation. The office has purchased equipment and is ready to begin recording interrogations, but is detained at the request of the State Attorney Office. After a grand jury investigation, the Sheriff's office began recording the interrogation of teenage suspects, and applying other procedural changes recommended by the jury.
The Butler case was the subject of the French documentary Sunday Morning Kill, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 74th Academy Awards in 2001. The documentary follows the Butlers defense team when they build their case because he is innocent. In 2004, Butler wrote a book about his experience, titled They Say It Was Killed .
Next development
After Butler's release, his lawyer tipped Sheriff's Office to two other suspects, Juan Curtis and Jermel Williams. Williams pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and testified against other defendants in the trial; he was sentenced to ten years in prison. Curtis's fingerprints were found in the victim's wallet, which had been found after the crime but had never been tested. Butler's case found a new experiment; The judge allowed Curtis's lawyers to discuss eyewitness identification, but decided that Florida's proof law prohibited them from using Butler's confession. Curtis was later found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. However, in 2004 the appeals court found that the exclusion from the confession denied Curtis's constitutional right to a fair trial, and gave a retrial. At this second trial Curtis was found guilty and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life.
Claim
At the end of February 2001, lawyers for the Butler family announced that they were moving forward with a civil lawsuit seeking $ 2.5 million in damages to City, Sheriff's Department and individual officers involved. Eight months later, the lawsuit was restored, seeking $ 8.5 million. Finally, on April 29, 2002, the Butler family received a $ 775,000 settlement from the city. According to their lawyers, the family decided to settle various reasons, including concerns about how long the case will drag on and difficulties in proving the case under federal civil rights law.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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