MURDER ON A SUNDAY MORNING" (2001)

Starring: Brenton Butler & Patrick McGuinness
Directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade

Polly Staffle Rating: ***

Imagine walking down the street and randomly being stopped by police. They tell you there was a murder and robbery nearby and ask if you can go with them to help answer some questions. They take you to the scene of the crime and the only eyewitness accuses you of committing the act.

You are arrested and taken in. For twelve hours various detectives and officers try to get you to confess. There's no motive and no weapon. They never think to get a search warrant and search your house for evidence. They know you did it and need you to tell them the "truth." They call you a liar and push you around. They say they will arrange for a lawyer, but one never comes.

They drive you to a wooded area where they think you may have dumped the gun or purse you stole from the woman you shot. A confession specialist heads deep in the woods with you just as it is getting dark. You still have not admitted to the crime you committed, so he punches you. He hits you in the stomach twice, both times so hard that it knocks you to the ground. The specialist then punches you in the face. It doesn't knock you out, but it is a solid hit and leaves some pretty good swelling. No gun, no purse, no confession. So they head back to the office. You're still not free to go.

Just like car salesmen trying to make a sale, yet another person comes to pay you a visit because somewhere along the line, someone is going to break you. He is ready to hear "your side of the story." He begins to write out a confession. He asks you to agree with what he says. You don't so he flashes his gun and tells you that every ten seconds he is going to punch you. Ten seconds go by and he hits you. It doesn't look good, so you agree with whatever he wants just so you can be left alone. He writes out a full confession and you sign it. Now imagine this whole scenario as a shy fifteen-year old African American male, one who was raised to be respectful, attends church and has held down jobs. In fact you are on your way to get a job application from Blockbuster when you are stopped by the police.

That is exactly what happened to Brenton Butler in May of 2000. His trial plays out in the Oscar-winning documentary "Murder On A Sunday Morning." It is inexcusable, disgusting and completely horrifying to think such a thing could happen in our country. But it does. It happens all the time.

People do not understand why there are individuals in prison who claim they are innocent, yet confessed to a crime. That's because the word confession doesn't have the same meaning me and you use on a daily basis. It doesn't mean admit to something you did. It doesn't mean talking and explaining yourself. What it means is being harassed until you sign a piece of paper that says you did whatever the police say you did. There is no excuse for this. Confessions must be videotaped. This must be mandatory. Ones that are not videotaped should not be admissible as evidence in a court of law. Haven't you ever been in a situation where you don't want to do something or don't want to say something and someone pesters you until they get their way? I know all parents have dealt with this and most men have dealt with this from their girlfriends and wives.

No murder weapon and a forced confession that was not videotaped is the best evidence the prosecution can come up with here and a trial moves forward. The purse was later found in a dumpster nine miles away from the crime scene with $1,200 in it.

Cases like this should not be in court. Convictions that were found with such flimsy of evidence should be overturned. I'd rather see 100 guilty criminals walk free, before a single innocent person is ever imprisoned. This could happen to you, your dad, your brother, your grandfather and may have very well already happened to someone you love.

But when it happens to someone else they might not have as good as a defense that Butler has. He gets lucky with his public defenders. Especially in lawyer Patrick McGuinness, who is sort of a mix of Louie Anderson and Michael Jackson trial lawyer Tom Mesereau. If only we could all be so lucky as to have someone as good as McGuinness on our side. This film is worth the watch just to see him in action. He sets up witnesses perfectly to catch them in lies on the stand and completely frustrate them.

In fact, this movie would be a great addition to all high school libraries. This should be mandatory viewing for high school students that are about to step foot in the real world. It let's you in on the proceedings and procedures of a trial and gives a first hand look at the seriousness of jury duty and what serving in court may mean for someone's future and family.

Not to mention how horrific this film makes the whole justice system look. It enrages me. It makes me embarrassed to be an American. I thought we lived in the greatest country in the world and this kind of stuff happens? It should enrage you as well and it should embarrass you.

We live in scary times. We shouldn't have to be afraid to walk down the street, but we are. More terrifying than being robbed or shot by a criminal, I fear being picked up by the police for a crime I had nothing to do with and being convicted because they twisted a confession out of me.

- CCF, January 2006