ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A significant amount of evidence was presented to the jury over the course of Philip Butler’s three-week murder trial, from police photos to an audio recording to the medical examiner’s autopsy report.
Through witnesses — and Butler, who testified — a narrative unfolded, allowing jurors to try to piece together the events of May 20 and 21, 2018 and the moment Butler’s brother, George, died of manual asphyxiation.
That narrative ended with Butler calling police and turning himself in, arrested as he kneeled on the floor of his porch with his hands up. What he said to RNC officers after he was taken to headquarters and interviewed was notably not mentioned in front of the jury.
That’s because Butler’s statement to police was ruled inadmissible at trial, since Justice Valerie Marshall determined he had not given it voluntarily. The decision and Marshall’s reasons for it were banned from publication until the end of his trial.
On Saturday, the jury declared Butler not guilty of any wrongdoing in connection with his brother’s death, and on Monday Marshall’s decision was released publicly.
Butler had been taken to RNC headquarters from his Conception Bay South home around 9:15 p.m. May 21. His recorded interview with police began around midnight, after he had spoken to a lawyer and donned a white Tyvek suit, since police had seized his clothes as evidence.
“The hospital probably be the right spot to bring me and I’m surprised that nobody has even brought me to a hospital yet,” Butler told RNC Const. Lisa Anderson shortly after his interview started.
After indicating he didn’t want to speak with her, Butler asked to see a doctor.
“OK, so why would you like to see a doctor? And you know what, I do want to talk to you about what happened,” Anderson replied.
Butler told the police officer George had Hepatitis C and had injected him with a needle during an incident the previous night, while they were both on a crack cocaine binge. George had also hit him with a pipe, Butler said, and otherwise injured him during a serious altercation. Twenty minutes later, Butler asked again to see a doctor.
“OK,” Anderson replied.
“Please,” Butler said.
“Let me just ask you about that. So you want to see a doctor, do you have any injuries right now?”
In ruling to exclude the interview, the judge noted Butler had provided Anderson with information, then made a third request to see a doctor.
“Again, Const. Anderson did not seek medical attention in response to the accused’s request. Rather, her response was, ‘We’ll talk about that,’” the judge wrote.
At one point, Butler, who had been lying on the floor with a blanket, said he was having chest pains.
“I want to see a doctor, I’m having pains in my chest. I want to see a doctor, I’m not saying another Goddamn word until I see a doctor. I want to see a doctor. I’m having pains in my chest and if I die, it’s on your hands.”
“And you know what, I’m sorry for cutting you off. I do want to hear…,” Anderson replied.
Anderson testified during the hearing to determine the admissibility of the interview that Butler had not seemed to be in distress and she had seen nothing life-threatening. She eventually left the room to consult with others on the investigative team, she said, and returned to tell Butler they would take him to hospital. When Butler learned he would have to wear the Tyvek suit, he changed his mind and said he didn’t want to go unless he had clothes.
“I’m not worried about it,” he told Anderson of his chest pains.
Over the next couple of hours, Anderson and other RNC officers attempted to get Butler to change his mind, encouraging him to see a doctor. Eventually they called in paramedics, who cleared him from needing emergency treatment, but suggested he go to hospital. Butler refused, saying he’d go only if he could wear clothes and not the jumpsuit. He later signed a written refusal of medical treatment.
Police called Butler's lawyer and went to the lawyer's house to try to get the lawyer to come and attend to him; they also called the RNC's legal counsel for advice on the situation.
They considered forcing Butler to go to hospital, but ultimately decided against it, continuing to try to persuade him to forget about the clothes and go to hospital in the white suit. He demanded to be taken to the lockup.
Butler continued to show no signs of distress or pain or discomfort, officers testified, and there were no concerns for him when it came to his alertness, sobriety or fatigue.
Complaints of chest pains and demands to be taken to the lockup are common from accused people in an effort to stop an interview, police told the court.
Police ended the interview and took him to the lockup around 4:30 a.m., when he indicated he didn’t want to talk to anyone else.
The judge determined Anderson had linked the prospect of medical attention with Butler providing more information about how he had received his injuries.
“This, in turn, would require the accused to provide information on the events in question,” Marshall ruled.
She said the injuries Butler was describing during the interview were serious enough to have warranted medical attention, and the hepatitis C injury alone was enough to stop the interview and take him to a doctor.
Prosecutors argued Butler had given his information freely and without prompting, even after asking for a doctor, and had asked Anderson at a certain moment if she wanted to “hear everything.”
Marshall determined police had failed to respond appropriately to Butler’s initial requests to see a doctor and his complaint of chest pains, contributing to an atmosphere of oppression and implied inducement to get him to give a statement. As a result, she excluded his interview from evidence presented at Butler’s trial.
Butler's lawyers successfully argued at trial that he had acted in self-defence when he had put George, 43, in a chokehold the night he died, saying he was trying to subdue him in the middle of a crack-fuelled rage.
Prosecutors argued Butler had intentionally killed his brother and then came up with a convenient story to hide it.
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
