Dr. Brooke Butler

Dr. Butler has over 25 years of experience as a psycholegal researcher in both academic and applied settings. She has worked at the federal and state levels in all stages of the litigation process. Dr. Butler has handled cases throughout the state of Florida, well as in Alaska, Georgia, Indiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington.

Dr. Butler's practice focuses on mitigation and litigation consulting in complex felony cases. The majority of her clients are adults charged with or convicted of capital murder and juveniles facing life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Dr. Butler’s scholarship concerns the social psychological factors that influence decision making within the context of the legal system. She has published and lectured in the areas of death qualification, mitigation, capital jury selection, juvenile sentencing, capital pretrial publicity, and the social psychological impact of incarceration. Dr. Butler has testified in federal and state courts regarding her academic and case-specific expertise.

Dr. Butler has taught a variety of psychology courses at the University of North Florida, Florida International University, University of South Florida, and New College of Florida. She was on the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at New College, which serves to protect the rights of people who participate in research conducted by principal investigators at the College. Dr. Butler has also mentored undergraduate and graduate students by supervising research projects and internships. 

Dr. Butler received her B.A. (summa cum laude) in psychology (with a minor program in criminal justice) from the University of North Florida in 1994, her M.A. in psychology from the University of North Florida in 1997, and Ph.D. in legal psychology (with a minor program in social psychology) from Florida International University in 2000.

Dr. Butler is a member of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychology-Law Society, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, and the National Alliance of Sentencing Advocates and Mitigation Specialists.

In her spare time, Dr. Butler enjoys reading, running, and spending time with family, which includes four feline fur children.