An Unusual Documentary: Murder on a Sunday Morning

I have a long list of documentaries to watch for a project I'm working on, and so I only recently saw this 2001 award-winning documentary.  It is about fifteen year old Brenton Butlerwho is accused and put to trial for the murder of a tourist, 65 year old Mary Ann Stephens, in Jacksonville, Florida.  The allegations were that Butlerpurse-snatched Ms. Stephens at gun-point early on a Sunday morning and then shot her in the head when she hesitated.  The film, directed by Jean Xavier de Lestrade follows the public defenders (one of whom is the charismatic Patrick McGuinness), their investigation and their work on the trial.  For more on the film, see here.

The investigation and trial unravel as we watch the film.  Because it is a documentary, however, and because it is being filmed as the investigation and trial play play out, no one involved in the film knows how the trial is going to end.  The film feels like one of the many recent of the genre “wrongfully accused black men caught in the corrupt criminal justice system,” but unlike so many documentaries, the end of this one is unknown to the viewer (and those involved) until it is filmed.  This is partially because the story the film concenrs is not widely known (if at all).  It is also because the film is shot in what feels like real time.  Although the film is only 111 minutes in length, many of the scenes are long, unedited, and containe a lot of silence. The film is also only loosely structured with “chapter titles,” such as “The Crime,”  “The Investigation,” “The Confession,” “Opening Statements,” and so on.

Occasionally, the defense attorney speaks directly to the camera, making the viewer aware that there is in fact a third person (the camera man) sharing space with the person in the frame.  These moments are startling because it is easy, with this film, to forget that it has been chosen to be filmed, to be shaped and edited for content and narrative flow, for persuasive force.  Unlike so many documentaries of late (Fahrenheit 9/11, Fog of War, Capturing the Friedmans), all of which feel like films which were shot to be watched, with the viewer in mind, Murder on a Sunday Morning feels much more like a film of images of a world that might never have been seen by anyone other than those living the experience it portrays.  When the defense attorney breaks the “fourth wall” and addresses the audience (this is a theater term originally, but applies equally well to film – it is when the actor breaches the imaginary boundary that divides the imaginary story from the audience, see here), the viewer of the film still, amazingly, feels unaddressed. This is because, I think, the defense attorney is not speaking to the film audience, as most actors might be doing at this moment, but to the camera man and director (de Lestrade) who, understandably, has become a close friend during the many weeks of the emotionally trying investigation and trial.  Instead of reaching beyond the film to the vast audience films usually intend to touch, these moments of this unusual film remain contained in a private world of the defense attorney and his client. The still-private effect of these moments make this documentary an atypical documentary, feeling like true exposure rather than theatrical filmmaking.

These moments also make the questions I ask of most documentary films that much tougher to analyze for their import.  How did the filmmaker choose this case among all others?  Is it a coincidence that the McGuinness is so charismatic, so affected (with his pacing, his idealism, his chain smoking). How did this filmmaking get access to all the private moments between the attorney and his client, between the defendant and his family, in jail, in court? Asking these questions of documentaries helps unpack their point, their constructed nature, their inherent advocacy.  They help perceive in each film the difference the camera makes to the “reality” that is being “caught” on film.  Here, I am not as sure.  But, there is an unmistakable moral to this film, despite the feeling that it is so much less staged than the documentaries mentioned above, despite the feeling of transparency and objectivity with which the film is shot.  It is a film about the injustice of shoddy police work and of the underfunding of public defenders. It is a film about how race lines persist in our criminal justice system.  Indeed, the deep irony of this film is that is a film shot and put together in a way that suggests nothing but unbiased and unplanned reporting of the truth (suggesting the same is possible), but whose inevitable form and eventual content is of exceptional advocacy (both through film and on the part of the public defender).

Comments

[tita]

how sad!

[Melissa Aitken]

I believe that justice will prevail with these men who call themselves "justice of the peace"...may they not be in peace until they make things right with Brenton that they were lying "under oath" and that they must get clean with the truth. May Brenton use what has happened in his life to become a lawyer or public defendent or a man who fights for those that cannot fight for themselves. I pray God's BIGGEST blessings to Brenton and his entire family for the injustice that was served to him for 6 LONG months in jail as an innocent man.......May God bless America :)

[Claire Dooley]

This documentary, the Public Defender, and the maturity of the 15 year old Brenton Butler blew me away. One question: How did the fact that Butler wore glasses and the eventual real culprit didn't affect Mr. Stephens never wanting to send an innocent person to jail. Aside from being black, these two were nothing alike. So much for eyewitness descriptions, which should be suspect in all cases, especially in such emotion situations.

[Claire Dooley]

This documentary, the Public Defender, and the maturity of the 15 year old Brenton Butler blew me away. One question: How did the fact that Butler wore glasses and the eventual real culprit didn't affect Mr. Stephens never wanting to send an innocent person to jail. Aside from being black, these two were nothing alike. So much for eyewitness descriptions, which should be suspect in all cases, especially in such emotion situations.

[E Fortenberry]

I have watched this documentary twice already and intend to watch it again. As a father of 5 sons, who are Black, it is very heart-wrenching to see this young, INNOCENT, Black child almost railroaded into prison for the rest of his life. And, that a Black "man" was responsible for this almost becoming a reality. Glover apparently could only become a homicide detective after his father was appointed deputy sheriff, which speaks to the apparent reason he used torture to get Brenton Butler to confess. I only hope Glover does not have any sons because this could easily have happened to one of them and I sincerely wonder what he would have done? Probably come to their rescue and lied to get them off just as he lied and TORTURED Brenton Butler to try and get him convicted. This was such a travesty of justice that it took God to send Mr. McGuiness to the Butler family. And the most sad thing about this whole case is that it seems no one wants to take responsibility for, or really care about, almost destroying this young man's life.

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Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.

[Farhana]

This documentary is about the injustice system of the cheap-jack police work to the public. I have watched this documentary for first time. This post is highly dedicated to no telecheck payday loans

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[mary ann adamson]

i am so grateful to be on this earth the same time as Pat McGuinness....he is an inspiration for all human beings and i am forever changed by the way he lives his life...may we all strive to be as decent compassionate and truth motivated as Patrick McGuinness....sure would be honored to raise a beer with him and propose a toast to his health...his family....and his happiness...here's to you sir...your life as you live it will inspire me all the days of my life.....i commend you.....
mary ann adamson
[email protected]

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