This rule effectively thwarted Chambers' effort to force an admission that McDonald had made a series of oral confessions to the crime. O.J. At a hearing early Wednesday, he posted $30,000 bond and was released on the condition he was not to have any contact with the girl. Al S. Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, "Court strikes conviction in murder case", "Brenton Butler Arrested For Misdemeanor", "Teen's book details ordeal of his arrest", "Man Gets Two Life Sentences in Ga. The innocent boy was 15-year-old Brenton Butler, whose trial for the slaying of a Georgia tourist provided the story for Murder on a Sunday Morning. Stay up-to-date with how the law affects your life. The Jacksonville teenager falsely accused of a murder four years ago has been in and out of jail again -- this time in Indiana. Butler (pictured, left) was apparently cut during a struggle with the girl. Butler confessed to the crime but later testified that two JSO detectives, including Nat Glover's son Michael Glover, had physically attacked and coerced him into confessing. If so, the confession should be admitted in evidence, and the jurors should be allowed to consider the alleged discrepancies, along with the evidence of corroboration. The detectives can accept the discipline or appeal it to a Sheriff's Office disciplinary review board, which would then recommend whether to uphold Gordon's proposed punishment or offer its own. He did not identify Curtis as the assailant at that time. The prosecutor's case was based on testimony by employees of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office as well as what was purported to be a written confession by Butler, the outlet stated in another article. Brenton is a very friendly and talented barber. Curtis presented evidence that Mr. Stephens had identified Butler, and the state countered that evidence by providing an alibi for Butler. on February 14. [1] Background [ edit] The fallout included an apology to Butler and his family from the sheriff and state attorney, as well as a grand jury probethat criticized the police investigation and prosecutors for not thoroughly reviewing the evidence before indicting the teenager. Mrs. Stephens gave him a mean look and mumbled a racial slur under her breath. The claim of bias which the defense sought to develop was admissible to afford a basis for an inference of undue pressure because of [the juvenile's] vulnerable status as a probationer, as well as of [the juvenile's] possible concern that he might be a suspect in the investigation. Davis, 415 U.S. at 317-318, 94 S.Ct. Murder On A Sunday Morning producer Denis Poncet told The Guardian of being in town during the trial, "Everyone came up to us and said, 'You're crazy, this kid is guilty.'" Free Online Library: Brenton Butler didn't do it: but he did confess. Butler, un adolescent noir de 15 ans, avoue le crime, admettant qu'il lui a tir dessus aprs lui avoir demand son sac main. Yet, all other things being equal, the availability of the declarant might be the very thing that requires the court to admit the confession as a matter of constitutional law, despite the Evidence Code. Many will declare this case to be racial discrimination and racial profiling, due to the fact that Brenton was a black male like the murderer. Florida allows litigants to impeach their own witnesses, but that does not necessarily resolve the constitutional problem identified in Chambers. Copyright 2011 by News4Jax.com. In 2004, Butler wrote a book about his experience, entitled They Said It Was Murder. As Chief Justice Burger explained, The accuracy and truthfulness of [the juvenile's] testimony were key elements in the State's case against petitioner. In support of this conclusion, the Court listed four factors that supported the reliability of McDonald's confessions: (1) each of the confessions was made spontaneously to a friend shortly after the murder was committed; (2) the confessions were corroborated by other evidence; (3) the confessions truly were statements against McDonald's penal interest; and (4) McDonald was available to testify and could have been cross-examined by counsel for the State. The jury found the defendant Curtis guilty of first-degree murder and armed robbery. At trial, a fingerprint expert testified that the print was made by the defendant Curtis. Select the best result to find their address, phone number, relatives, and public records. Butler was arrested and charged in May 2000, presence of racism in the American criminal justice system, how institutions treat marginalized populations, young black men are statistically more likely to encounter police violence. The state argued that Butler's confession was not admissible as a declaration against penal interest because he was available to testify. 1038. The third-party confession in Chambers was offered exclusively by the defense and was never endorsed as reliable by the state. Mr. Stephens described the assailant as a young black man wearing cut off jeans and sneakers in two or three colors of blue. In our view, the argument for admitting the confession in this case is even stronger than the one presented in Chambers. Butler was freed. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday entitled Oversight of the Department of Justice, featuring testimony from Attorney General Merrick Garland. See Rivera, 915 F.2d at 282; United States ex rel. Brenton Leonard Butler) was a murder case in Jacksonville, Florida. The events of Butler's real life are not recreated in Seven Seconds, but his is a story worth knowing. "Ten years later, the Butler trial's legacy remains palpable. That may be what happened here, but there is no indication of it in the record. In an interview with The Fix , the 25-year-old Australian actor was asked what he . Novel by Jacksonville author, daughter of a detective, is inspired by Brenton Butler case. [8] Finally, on April 29, 2002, the Butler family accepted a $775,000 settlement from the city. Perhaps if Butler had been called to testify, he would have said that his confession was false and that he was telling the truth when he recanted it. He is scheduled to be back in court June 1. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. The woman's traumatized husband identifies him as the killer and, after hours in police custody without a lawyer or notification of his parents, a confused and scared Jason eventually confesses. Summary Of State Of Florida V. Brenton Leonard Butler 831 Words | 4 Pages. The Supreme Court concluded that McDonald's oral confessions should have been admitted in evidence, despite the fact that they were inadmissible under state law. Gordon said two other detectives on their team would receive written reprimands as part of the internal affairs investigation, which began last summer. We have been unable to find the answer to this riddle in any of the court opinions addressing the Chambers case in the context of the declaration against penal interest exception to the hearsay rule.2 All we can say for certain is that availability is a key element in the constitutional argument for admitting a confession by another person. Updated: 6:42 AM EDT May 27, 2004. That is what the Court said in Chambers, and we are not at liberty to disagree. Click here to take a moment and familiarize yourself with our Community Guidelines. Jacksonville station News4Jax reported that Butler was arrested and charged in May 2000 with killing a Georgia tourist at a motel. The prosecutor must have believed then that Butler's confession was reliable. We would be more concerned if Butler had been bragging to his friends, or if he had something to gain by his statement, or if he had been threatened or coerced in some way. United States v. Butler's holding that the taxing and spending power is broad is still good law, however the Supreme Court's view of the Tenth Amendment's intersection with the taxing and spending power has subsequently changed. The prosecutor called the defendant's brother, Antoine Bryant, but was unable to get him to repeat the testimony he had previously given to the grand jury. En la serie 'Seven Seconds', la muerte de un joven afroamericano de 15 aos en Jersey City suscita un encubrimiento policial y una bsqueda desesperada de la verdad. Its taken just three days to seat a jury of 12 people in the tax fraud trial of Donald Trumps company surprising even some people involved in the case who thought it would take at least a week to find an impartial panel in heavily Democratic New York City. Butler was picked up by police in May 2000 and taken to a Southside motel, where he was identified by the husband of Mary Ann Stephens of Toccoa, Ga., who was fatally shot during a robbery. See Chambers, 410 U.S. at 300-301, 93 S.Ct. Butler eventually confessed to the crime, even though the murder weapon was never found and other key physical evidence was missing. Mrs. Stephens' purse was recovered from a dumpster, but not as a result of any information provided by Jermel Williams. The officers failed to inform Butler's family upon his arrest and interrogated him privately without a parent or lawyer present. There is no need to be in denial when it 's a widespread problem that is heard about daily. Murder on a Sunday Morning follows the trial of Brenton Butler, a 15-year-old black male who is charged with robbing and murdering Mary Ann Stephens, a 65-year-old white woman, in the parking lot of a hotel in Jacksonville, Florida. In a 2010 story, 10 years after the crime, Times-Union courts reporter Paul Pinkham summed up the case's importance: "By the time the trial was over, Butler's public defenders had turned the system on its head and helped change police procedure in Jacksonville forever. [1] The office had purchased the equipment and was prepared to start taping interrogations, but held off at the request of the State Attorney's Office. Butler subsequently confessed to the crime, and the case went to trial. Then he panicked and grabbed her purse and ran. Butler's confession meets that test, as well. In the state's case in chief, the prosecutor called James Stephens, the victim's husband. A French film crew made a documentary on the case, "Murder on a Sunday Morning,"which went on to win the Oscar for best documentary in 2001. [1] Butler was brought to the victim's husband, who identified him as the killer. The shop is a cool throwback to the barbershops of the 50s and 60s. When the police arrived at the scene, her husband described the man who ran away with her purse - over 6ft tall, 20-25, skinny. Both stories speak to the presence of racism in the American criminal justice system. Butler was identified by the victim's husband. The incident could have been worse then what it was., Machine Gun McGurn had what became called a blonde alibi he had been at a hotel with his blonde girlfriend from 9 p.m. on February 13 through 3p.m. Butler was acquitted by a jury. It took her more than a decade, between working and raising children, to make the story be what it needed to be, and tobring the book to publication. Those tapes are now routine and relied on during trial.". All rights reserved. Author: WTLV. By First Coast News StaffINDIANAPOLIS, IN -- Brenton Butler, 19, appeared in court in Indianapolis Wednesday. And not interfere with the progress towards coming to a conclusion on the case. Studies show that teens are especially vulnerable to making false confessions with terrible consequences. I was right! Simpson was an American Football player who ruined his career after the suspicions that he murdered his ex-wife and her friend and due to other crimes that occurred later., Set this move is that his attorney for Trigger go to Kacia and secure a public defender accurately Petray Petray portrays portray Who are the first line of defence in this country against the wrongful conviction of the innocent. Cool. When McDonald was called as a witness at trial, he denied that he had committed the crime, and Chambers was required under the voucher rule to accept his testimony. These people, these imaginary people, took on lives of their own, and I needed to do them right by finishing their story.. The general principle that state evidence rules must, in some instances, yield to greater principles established by the Constitution has been applied specifically to require the admission of a confession by a third party. Juan Tirrell CURTIS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. Police in Marion County, Ind., said they got a call that the 17-year-old girl was struggling with Butler and he was arrested on charges of criminal confinement, intimidation and domestic battery. It had been discovered and turned over to the police much earlier by two people who were evidently looking through the dumpster for aluminum cans. However, the Patriot Act did in an opposite way about looking people of what they had done before they were sentenced. The star was lawyer Patrick McGuinness, an assistant public defender who, in partnership with Ann Finnell, convinced a jury that Butler's murder confession had been coerced by Jacksonville . Brenton Butler scores a career high 40 points (2014) On January 04, 2014, Brenton Butler set his career high in points in a Denmark - Ligaen game. The Court reasoned that the opposing party could then confront the witness to uncover a possible explanation for the confession. They were white, middle-aged tourists from Georgia staying at a motel. The central question of Seven Seconds, Netflix's new 10-part miniseries from Veena Sud (the creator of AMC and Netflix's The Killing ), is never who killed Brenton Butler, a . Williams told the jury that he had no agreement with the state, and he denied that he had been promised a lighter sentence in return for his testimony against Curtis. Join Facebook to connect with Brent Butler and others you may know. The version of the events recounted by Johnson was similar to the one given by Jermel Williams. Because Butler was available, his earlier statement to the police could not be admitted as a declaration against penal interest. Laws and rules in our justice system are in place to make trials fair for everyone. Several days after the trial, he was sentenced to one year in the county jail. Brenton Butler (2000) Butler, 15, became a poster child for police corruption after his coerced confession by Jacksonville police led to his acquittal, lawsuits, changes in interrogation policies . A prosecutor cannot rely on evidence to obtain a conviction in one case, and then condemn the very same evidence as unreliable in another. We all know the quote when you assume. If the directions we have received from the state legislature regarding the admission of evidence were all that we had to consider, the argument made here would be at an end. TermsPrivacyDisclaimerCookiesDo Not Sell My Information, Begin typing to search, use arrow keys to navigate, use enter to select, Stay up-to-date with FindLaw's newsletter for legal professionals. [1] The jury deliberated for less than an hour before finding Butler not guilty; one juror later cited the testimony about the interrogation as one of the key factors in their decision. The Court emphasized that, although McDonald's confessions were hearsay, they were made and subsequently presented at trial under circumstances that provided considerable assurance of their reliability. Chambers, 410 U.S. at 300, 93 S.Ct. Butler had been identified by the victim's husband and he had confessed to police officers that he shot Mrs. Stephens. And so do a surprising number of innocent people--teenagers in particular. However, Butler testified that he was beaten and coerced into making a confession. The job took its toll on him," she said. It began with a brutal and senseless murder. Haiqa Aaqil Murder On a Sunday Morning State of Florida Vs. Brenton Lenoard Butler Initial Defense counsel also established that, after the Butler trial, police officers showed Mr. Stephens several photographs, including a photo of the defendant Curtis. trial jury: 8 men, 4 women, and a few opinions, Dog killed in Wednesday Sugar Hill house fire, Herschel Walker fires up supporters in Cleveland. Its subject is the Brenton Butler case, a criminal case in which a fifteen-year-old African-American boy was wrongfully accused of murder. She said she wrote the book to honor him, in a way, and there's a character an older police officer who treats Jason with compassion who is close to what her father was like. He raised the gun to her face quickly and it went off. SEVEN SECONDS Review: Episode 8-10. There was no evidence presented to the jury in Curtis' case to prove or even suggest that Butler's confession was coerced. 2023 www.jacksonville.com. Last year, the sheriff and State Attorney Harry Shorstein apologized to Butler and his family after two other men were charged in the killing. ``It was a long way from being our best example of what our detectives could do. The murder case that Brigance takes on involves two Caucasian men who were murdered by an African-American named, Carl Lee Hailey. BOOTH, J., dissents with opinion. After the defense rested its case, the state called several rebuttal witnesses who testified that Butler could not have been present at the scene when the murder was committed. Tourist Murder", "Butler Family Plans $2.5 Million Civil Lawsuit", "Falsely Accused Teen Sues For $8.5 Million", "Butler Family Settles Lawsuit With City", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brenton_Butler_case&oldid=1126716534, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 10 December 2022, at 21:37. For example, in Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 94 S.Ct. She knows, she says, how tough the job can be. The state argues that Butler's confession was not reliable, because some of the facts were contradicted by other evidence. Brenton Butler, who was accused of killing a Georgia tourist when he was 15, apparently drove to Indianapolis to see a girl he considers his girlfriend. Butler was picked up by police in May The government should always think that people was innocent before they found guilty and it supposed not to have privilege above the law. But Delegal said she didn't want her novel to focus simply on that. 1105, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974), the United States Supreme Court held that a defendant had a constitutional right to impeach a juvenile by showing that he was on probation, even though an Alaska statute prohibited disclosure of that fact. However, it would not be appropriate for us to take into account the news articles written about the case in evaluating Butler's confession. Under the circumstances, we think that Mr. Stephens' identification was powerful corroborating evidence. The officer must weight utilitarian concerns with what is best for the greater good, with deontological concerns over absolute moral rights and wrongs that can never be broken. By this, the Court did not mean that the statements had been blurted out, but rather that they were made without any compulsion and without any apparent motive to lie. Looking for a suspect, the police grabbed the first convenient person they spotted: a 15-year-old kid named Brent Butler. Bryant questioned Curtis about Williams' statement, and Curtis generally admitted to Bryant that he had committed a robbery. Brenton is an English place name and surname. One year ago, Butler was arrested for trespassing at Sandalwood High School when he was allegedly trying to take the same girl off campus in his car. Julie Delegal's novel, "Seen," is set in a fictional city much like Jacksonville, though somewhat smaller, which she calls Beau Rve. People cannot be charged because of hate and vengeance, but to ensure justice for the crimes they have committed., The media and the government should keep to themselves, and let nature take its course. Butler was acquitted of murder and robbery charges in November 2000, according to News4Jax. According to Officer Martin, Mr. Stephens said that there was no doubt in his mind that Butler was the shooter. At the time of Chambers' trial, Mississippi had a declaration against interest exception to the hearsay rule, but it applied only to statements against pecuniary interest, not to statements against penal interest. If she were to locate it on a map, it would be right around where Palatka is in reality. By using his name, the Netflix series is recognizing a then-teenager who came close to being punished for a crime because of the shortcomings of our justice system. I find no reversible error in the trial court's exclusion of the evidence in question and would affirm the judgment of conviction below. Netflix's new crime anthology series Seven Seconds paints a brutal picture of police corruption in its first season, premiering Feb. 23. Jacksonville defense lawyer, known from Oscar-winning film, dies at 70, Public defender-elect fires 10 seasoned attorneys, including two who represented Brenton Butler, Before Aiden Fucci, these juveniles were charged as adults in high-profile Jacksonville-area cases, 3 Black women from Jacksonville debut acclaimed books, become friends, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Murder on a Sunday Morning. Absolutely. February 24, 2018. Before Curtis' trial, the state moved to exclude the evidence that Brenton Butler had confessed to the crimes. In this confession, he said that he was hungry and had no money, so he decided to approach Mr. and Mrs. Stephens to ask them if they had any spare change. Many will declare this case to be racial discrimination and racial profiling, due to the fact that Brenton was a black male like the murderer. The writers behind Seven Seconds gave us a real ending to the trial involving the tragic death of Brenton Butler and its cover-up. Like Butler, he is 15 when he's picked up by police after a woman from Georgia is shot at a nearby hotel. I recently discovered the Academy Award winning documentary feature Murder on a Sunday Morning. When 15-year-old black cyclist Brenton Butler dies in a hit-and-run accident -- with a white police officer behind the wheel of the vehicle -- Jersey City explodes with racial tension. ``It was a poor piece of work,'' Gordon said of the case. Andy Joiner and 20 days each for detectives Duane Darnell and Jim Williams. He added that the man was young, about twenty or twenty-one, with very skinny legs. He should have ordered that the other officers go back to court because they played a part in the beating also. To dismiss this evidence, we would have to assume that Butler not only falsely confessed to murder, but, by some tragic coincidence, he was also mistakenly identified as the killer by an eyewitness to the murder. He admitted that he had told police officers he was positive Butler was the one, and that, even after Butler's acquittal, he expressed his belief that he had not been mistaken in his identification. Butler was acquitted by a jury of the May 2000 murder of Mary Ann Stephens, and later received apologies from Jacksonville's sheriff and top prosecutor, along with a $775,000 settlement from the city. Nevertheless, the federal courts continue to apply the principle in Chambers to determine whether the exclusion of a confession as hearsay deprives the defendant of the right to due process of law. Jermel Williams testified that he and Curtis were using cocaine on the morning of May 7, 2000. The police might be liable under international law while they have no liability in the United States. Using it hurts innocent people and possibly make them loose their position. It is true that certain aspects of Butler's statement, such as the location of the purse and the kind of weapon used, were inconsistent with other facts, but the question is not whether there is some evidence casting doubt on the confession. As these opinions implicitly recognize, a trial judge may be required to admit a third-party confession under constitutional principles, even if it does not qualify as a declaration against penal interest under the state law of evidence. On May 7, 2000, in the parking lot of . Brenton Leonard Butler) was a murder case in Jacksonville, Florida. He was charged. Ninety minutes later, 15-year-old Brenton Butler is arrested. Un coupable idal est un documentaire ralis par Jean-Xavier de Lestrade sorti en 2003.. Ce film relate l'affaire Brenton Butler (en).Son titre international est Murder on a Sunday Morning (littralement Meurtre un dimanche matin ). Jax Teen Acquitted Of Murder Arrested In Indiana, Teen Falsely Accused Of Murder Writes Book About Ordeal, Officers' Discipline In Butler Case Overturned, Internal Affairs: Suspend 3 Officers In Butler Case, Falsely Accused Teen Sues For $8.5 Million, Grand Jury To Hold Off On Decision In Butler Case, Shorstein, Glover Apologize To 'Wrongly Accused' Teen. Last summer looking people of what they had done before they were white middle-aged. Charged in May 2000 with killing a Georgia tourist at a motel Library: Brenton Butler, he sentenced... This BDG newsletter, you agree to our trials fair for everyone the recounted! 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