Why Is Brenton Butler Guilty

1535 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Injustice in the US court system

In the United States of America, our justice system is here to serve and protect people of the world. Unfortunately, some are able get away with crimes and others are fairly judged. This often happens because their is nothing proving a clear path of innocence or guilt. In the book Monster and the documentary Murder on a Sunday Morning, this can be demonstrated throughout. Based on the information given, the verdict of Steve Harmon seems to be incorrect while the verdict of Brenton Butler seems to be correct. The verdict of Steve Harmon was found not guilty. Throughout the story, Steve had eyebrow-raising opinions and thoughts about his case. This can lead the reader to believe that Steve is guilty. The number one reason that can lead …show more content…

Thought this documentary, there was nothing against Brenton that could prove he had anything to do with the horrible crime. The number reason that Brenton Butler seems innocent not because there was no solid evidence that he was actually near the Ramada Inn in Jacksonville, Florida in between the time of 7 and 9 am. Every piece of evidence the had, which was very minimal, to prove Brenton was actually involved in the crime didn’t add up. The second reason that Brenton Butler was found not guilty is due to how the officers violated many of the states laws and policies while holding Brenton in custody. Brenton was hit once in the face and twice in the stomach by Detective Michael Glover and also his written statement that was supervised by Dwayne Darnell does not match the exact words that Brenton said which against the law. Also when each detective took the stand they seemed nervous or uneasy when being on the stand is an everyday thing they do. The last reason that Brenton Butler seems to be found not guilty is due to the fact that his parents and lawyers had absolute faith that he was innocent. Unlike Steve Harmon, both parents were alongside him the whole case and made sure that Brenton knew that they knew without a doubt he was innocent. Sometimes, a parent knows their child the best and can truly know if their kids are telling truth or …show more content…

In this documentary, we never go into the minds of any of the people, but only get to interpret what we see and hear. This documentary was filmed in Jacksonville, Florida where Brenton Butler, a 15 year old African American boy was accused of the murder of Mary Ann Stephens. The main people in this documentary are Ann Fennell, Patrick McGuiness, Brenton Butler, and detectives Williams, Glover, and Darnell. Ann Fennell and Patrick McGuisness are the two defense attorney’s on Brenton’s behalf. Brenton Butler is the boy being accused of murder. Detectives Williams, Glover, and Darnell are the detectives in department 3 the violated many laws and policies while holing Brenton in

Show More
Related

  • Donald Butler Case Summary

    452 Words  | 1 Pages

    Summary of the Case On August 1987, Donald Butler opened a store in Winnipeg, Manitoba, called the “Avenue Boutique”. In this store, Butler sold and rented pornographic publications that were considered “hard core” and sexual paraphernalia. A couple weeks later, the City of Winnipeg Police searched and seized Butler’s sexually explicit materials lawfully. From this, Butler was charged with 173 counts under s. 163 of the Criminal Code. These charges included s. 163(1)(a) which criminalizes the distribution and the possession for distribution of obscene materials, as wells s. 163(2)(a) for selling and exposing obscene material to the public.

    Read More

  • Beecher Terrace Research Paper

    576 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thus, each person in this documentary can name at least five people that have been arrested, mainly immediate family members. They all have three main things in common: they live in Beecher Terrace, they have more than six charges, and they have some type of mental issue that needs to be resolved to better them.

    Read More

  • Brenton Butler Murder Case Essay

    486 Words  | 1 Pages

    However, police should have acknowledged that individuals can make mistakenly identify the wrong person, especially an individual who had just tragically witnessed his wife’s death, and that the positive identification can not be the only evidence used to confirm the identity of a suspect. In addition, a search was never conducted on Butler’s home to see if any evidence was there. Unless my memory fails me, police officers also did not perform a gun residue test on Butler to see if he had recently fired a gun. Regardless, police did not find any physical evidence, such as blood, on Butler’s clothes or body. In fact, there was no forensic investigation of evidence conducted at all. Mary Ann Stephen’s purse was later discovered in a trash can, but it wasn’t until after the acquittal of Brenton Butler that a fingerprint belonging to the real killer was found on her purse. Overall, the ethical issues involved in the Brenton Butler case are astounding. The best solution to resolve those issues is to thoroughly perform job duties with integrity. Investigators had to know that more evidence than just a positive identification made by one, rightly upset individual was not substantial enough to confirm the identity of the

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Murder In The Bayou

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    The book Murder in the Bayou: Who Killed the Women Known as the Jeff Davis 8?, written by independent journalist and private investigator Ethan Brown, tells the horrific true story of the bayou town of Jennings, Louisiana located in the heart of the Jefferson Davis parish. During the four year duration between 2005 and 2009, the town of Jennings was on edge after the discovery of the bodies of eight murdered women were found in the filthy canals and swamps. The victims became known as the “Jeff Davis 8.” For years, local law enforcement suspected a serial killer, and solely investigated the murders based on that theory alone. The victims were murdered in varying manors, but when alive they all shared many commonalities and were connected to

    Read More

  • Walter Dean Myers’ Monster - Guilty Until Proven Innocent

    1247 Words  | 3 Pages

    What we do know is that many people think Steve is guilty. One of the guards describes the case, “Six days – maybe seven. It’s a motion case. They go through the motions; then they lock them up” (14). The judicial system has many flaws, one of which being that they assume guilt before proof when it comes to people like Steve. The phrase “innocent until proven guilty” does not apply to cases like his. As prosecutor Petrocelli states in reference to people like Steve, “There are also monsters in our communities – people who are willing to steal and to kill, people who disregard the rights of others” (21). O’Brien succinctly sums this up for Steve, “You’re young, you’re Black, and you’re on ...

    Read More

  • The Conflict Theory Of Crime In The Central Park Five

    1457 Words  | 3 Pages

    On April 19th, 1989, Trisha Meili was the victim of violent assault, rape, and sodomy. The vicious attack left her in a coma for 12 days and The New York Times described it as “one of the most widely publicized crimes of the 1980’s.” The documentary, The Central Park Five, reveals the truth about what happened the night of April 19th, and how the subordinate group of young black boys were wrongly convicted. Analyzing the conflict theory of crime in association to the case of the central park five, understanding the way they were treated based on setting, why it was so easy for the law enforcement to pin the crime on the young black boys, and how wrongly convicting someone has great consequences along with relating it

    Read More

  • The Atlanta Missing And Murdered Children Case

    1764 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ebrooks, Chris Richardson, Latonya Wilson, Aaron Wyche, Anthony Carter, Earl Terrell, Clifford Jones, Darren Glass, Charles Stephens, Aaron Jackson, Patrick Rogers, Lubie Geter, Terry Pue, Patrick Baltazar, Curtis Walker, Joseph Bell, Timothy Hill were all victims of this ruthless killing. Regardless of who was behind this killings, each one of them got their lives cut short due to someones cruelty. In conclusion, the Atlanta Missing and Murdered case, a major breakthrough to an investigation which had seen 29 African- American children and adults murdered in a series of killings came with the arrest of 23 year old Wayne B. Williams, who was convicted of the crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment. This was one of the darkest moments in the history of Atlanta, a period of darkness which will forever live in the minds of both the victims and the people of Georgia.

    Read More

  • The Scottsboro Trials and To Kill A Mockingbird

    1162 Words  | 3 Pages

    While talking to the police, the women accused all of the black men of raping them. These women were known prostitutes of the area, but their word was still taken over the black men who were accused. Twelve days later, the trial took place. There were many witnesses that held bias towards the black men. One acquaintance of the women was a white lady who refused to support the lies that were coming out of the white women's mouths.

    Read More

  • Malpractice In Central Park 5

    879 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Central Park Five, a documentary released in 2012, follows the lives of five Harlem teenagers who were convicted of the assault and rape of a white female jogger in New York City’s Central Park in 1989. The film details the events preceding the discovery of said jogger and the boys’ association, as well as the trials and tribulations that followed. Within days, all five boys were brought in and coaxed into a confession. Antron McCray, 15; Korey Wise, 16; Kevin Richardson, 14; Raymond Santana, 14; and Yusef Salaam, 15, were not only victims of a malicious profiling scandal but were also subjected to hours of aggressive and subjective interrogations leading to the misappropriation of evidence and written statements suggesting malpractice within the precinct and among the “seasoned” homicide detectives involved. "These young men were convicted long before the trial, by a city blinded by fear and, equally, freighted by race. They were convicted because it was all too easy for people to see them as violent criminals simply because of the color of their skin."(Burns, 2012). Unfortunately, these means of coercion are found all too often in America. Anything from trauma to

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Case of Guy Paul Morin

    1542 Words  | 4 Pages

    Christine Jessop was a nine year old girl who after bring dropped off by the school bus at her home in Queensville, decided to ride her bike to the park nearby to meet with her friends. After stopping to buy some gum at the local store, she was last seen walking her bike up her driveway by her friend Kim Warren. She did not keep her appointment with her friend at the park, and would never be seen alive again (Anderson & Anderson, 2009). This small town instantly became involved in the search for the missing girl, but with very little evidence to go on time passed, and hope began to diminish for the safe return home of Jessop. On New Year’s Eve 1984, eighty-nine days after Jessop went missing, her body was found badly decomposed in a bush by Fred Patterson fifty-five kilometers from Queensville. An autopsy would later revival that she was raped and mutilated (Anderson & Anderson, 2009). The police still did not have a suspect in the case nor did they have any leads, but now that her body was found the police and the small town were the topic of media, increasing pressure on the police to figure out what had happened to this little girl.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Monster And Murder On A Sunday Morning

    487 Words  | 1 Pages

        Both of the boys accusations were very severe. Steve Harmon was being tried for bring an accomplice in a murder/robbery in a convenience store. Even though there's not much information on the arrest itself it was hinted that he was found around the neighborhood and was trying to film for his class when he was arrested .Whereas, Brenton Butler was tried as the killer of an older tourist that was white. Butler was outside by his house when police spotted him, they took him in for questioning just because the description of the murderer was that he was African American. Once arrested they were both introduced to the people who could change their fate in the courtroom.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Monster And Murder On A Sunday Morning

    1130 Words  | 3 Pages

    Both cases have similar charges. Both of the men are young and black and are accused of murder while attempting to rob the victims. Both crimes were committed in a public place with a witness point to the jury they both should be pleaded guilty. An example from the novel, Monster the crime took place at a drugstore. In the documentary, “Murder on A Sunday Morning,” the crime took place at a motel on an early Sunday morning. They both consist of racism by either the jury or the police. From the novel Monster the jury was just looking at Steve Harmon and already assuming him guilty not even listening to the story that goes behind the crime. In the documentary “Murder on A Sunday Morning” the police men were taking Brenton Butler as a suspect for the crime because he was walking on the sidewalk when the crime happened. Both men were pleaded not guilty and then the actual killer came forward and confessed to the

    Read More

  • First Degree Murder Conviction

    881 Words  | 2 Pages

    Don’t get me wrong, if a person proven guilty of murder, especially as heinous as this crime was, they deserve the death penalty but only if there was “no shadow of a doubt” hard pieces of evidence, more real proof, not circumstantial evidence, are connecting that person to the crime.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Racial Discrimination

    1163 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through this query it is first shown that there is a social issue that is being addressed. This acknowledges the pathos of Davis’ informative video, showing the young men especially small kids who are aware and encountering Racial Discrimination on their everyday lives. Davis further promotes pathos by showing the shame and confusion of these young men. They eagerly asked the questions “Why are the people that are supposed to protect me attacking me? Why are you afraid of me? Why am I afraid of people who are supposed to protect me? Why do you only stop if it is me?” These accusations are thrown by the young men in her video to elicit the inequity they are getting from the people who are “supposed” to protect them. Thus, informing the people who are to protect them, the police for that matter if they are doing their job which is to protect and be lawful to all citizens. This conveys how ruthless they are to them. The injustice is so evident if these young boys know this happens to them or other people who they might know. This also shows the viewers’ great sense of compassion for the young boys because in a very young age, they are well-informed about this, realizing it and suffering from this matter. Other questions that demonstrate pathos that they voice

    Read More

  • Corruption In The Justice System Essay

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the story of George Stinney Jr, were he was giving poor legal representation in court, He became the first youngest African American boy in the United States to be executed for a crime in the 20th century. March 23, 1994 a pair of young Caucasian females are declared missing, their names were Betty June Binnicker, who was 11 and Mary Emma Themes, who was 8. The girls were out riding their bikes and were looking for maypops. George was brought in for questioning because on their way there they stopped by the Stinney home where George and his younger sister were out playing and asked if they knew where to find the flowers and George knew where to find them. He was accused of beating them and dragging their bodies to a ditch. Once arrested without a trial being taken place George’s father was fired from his job and his family was forced to move out of the city for the fear of being lynched by angry Ca...

    Read More

More about Why Is Brenton Butler Guilty

Open Document