Brenton Butler case
| Brenton Butler case | |
|---|---|
| Court | Duval County Courthouse |
| Full case name | State of Florida v. Brenton Leonard Butler |
| Decided | November 21, 2000 |
| Verdict | Not guilty on both counts |
| Court membership | |
| Judge sitting | Waddell Wallace |
The Brenton Butler case (officially State of Florida v. Brenton Leonard Butler) was a murder case in Jacksonville, Florida. During the investigation of a shooting death outside a motel in 2000, police arrested 15-year-old Brenton Butler and charged him with the murder. Butler subsequently confessed to the crime, and the case went to trial. However, during the trial he testified that he had been brutalized into his confession, and he was acquitted. The case gained significant notice in the media, and became the subject of an award-winning documentary, Murder on a Sunday Morning.