Woman in W.Va. torture case now says she lied

[WriteDown]

Source: AP

Woman in W.Va. torture case now says she lied
By TOM BREEN (AP) – 3 hours ago

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A black woman at the center of a West Virginia torture case that raised racial questions now says she lied about being a victim.

The office of Columbus, Ohio, attorney Byron L. Potts says Megan Williams will attend a news conference there Wednesday saying she lied about being assaulted by a gang of whites.

Seven people pleaded guilty in the 2007 case. All but one were sentenced to long jail terms.

The former Logan County prosecutor who oversaw those cases calls Williams' new claim absurd. Brian Abraham tells The Associated Press the seven were convicted on physical evidence and their own statements.

Authorities say Williams was held for days in a trailer where she was forced to eat animal feces, sexually assaulted and stabbed.


Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5idqSRBiNk7vY4jU-JyXYVNvdVXDgD9BFHKK00

---

Shades of Duke.

[bluestateguy]

1. Any minute now there will be people making excuses for her being "mentally ill"

Just watch.

[Lance_Boyle]

9. I remember this case - she was/is mentally challenged

according to her mother with whom she lived at the time.

[bluestateguy]

20. Here we go

Now all we need are for the apologists for Mike Nifong and the Duke rape "victim" to start squawking.

[No Elephants]

48. How can you possibly know if she is/was mentally ill or mentally challenged or not?

[struggle4progress]

117. ... Williams' parents admitted in September 2007 that she had a learning disability and took some

special education classes at Capital High School ...

December 7, 2008
Prosecutor looks back on Williams case
By Gary A. Harki
http://www.sundaygazettemail.com/News/200812060490

[woo me with science]

156. Learning disability is neither a mental illness nor an intellectual delay.

By definition, people with learning disabilities have at least broadly average IQ's.

[struggle4progress]

158. It has been widely reported that she is s l o w:

... Megan’s adoptive mother, Carmen Williams, says her daughter was trusting. “She’s a little slow, so it’s kinda hard for her to comprehend sometimes,” she said. “So I think that played a big part in it” ...
AP Interview: Megan Williams speaks about torture ordeal
October 23, 2007 @ 06:43 PM
By SHAYA TAYEFE MOHAJER -- Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/homepage/x2054223983

...Rev. Lloyd Hill .. of Liberty Missionary Baptist Church, says he was the first person who Carmen Williams, Megan Williams' adoptive mother, called after Megan was found. Hill and Carmen Williams grew up together. "I went up there out of concern," said Hill, who grew up with Carmen Williams. " looked really devastated, she looked abused. There were bruises, scratches all over her. She was shaking. She looked terrified. But on the other hand, she acted like a 10- or 12-year-old girl," Hill said ...
October 21, 2009
Williams saga takes another strange turn
By Gary A. Harki
Staff writer
http://wvgazette.com/News/200910210531

[woo me with science]

160. I don't know her history.

You are the one who stated she has an LD diagnosis. I am merely explaining to you what that means. It does not signify any type of mental illness, and it rules out intellectual delays.

[struggle4progress]

161. I merely provided quotes from several newspaper accounts. Whether they actually use clinical

terms is beyond my control. The hot-button political issue here is whether Megan Williams lied and by lying sent innocent persons to jail. The post, to which I originally responded, seemed to imply apologists would attempt to excuse a miscarriage of justice by arguing that Megan Williams was mentally ill. The standard claim, however, was not that she was mentally ill -- but rather that she was not very quick

The quickness of her mind may be relevant to an interpretation of her alleged retraction, because a natural question regarding her inconsistencies is: Did she hallucinate some or all of the entire affair, did she invent some or all of it with corrupt motive, or was she simply not bright enough to give a coherent account? Of course, abstractly, nothing prevents her from have hallucinated some of it, invented some of it corruptly, and not having been able to give an accurate account of the rest. Prosecutors concluded, however, on the basis of mutual accusations of the accused and physical evidence, that the abuse was not a complete fantasy or fabrication: the fact, that she apparently changed her story frequently, from the very beginning, convinced prosecutors not to use her as a witness; they were nevertheless convinced enough of the abuse to proceed with charges. There may be some evidence of her mental capacity, in the fact that she went to live with two convicted killers, and had to be rescued from their trailer twice within a month, returning after the first rescue led to the arrest of her "boyfriend" for domestic battery against her; we have additional supporting information from statements by people who actually knew her

I, of course, would not be competent to provide any clinical diagnosis of her actual condition, even on direct examination, let alone from second and third hand press accounts

[TorchTheWitch]

162. more about her disability...

I don't think she's ever been evaluated by anyone, but everyone who gets to know her says the same things about her in that she seems to have the mind of a child and is highly prone to manipulation and suggestion. It seems to me that she doesn't have a very good grasp on reality in that she seems to have no understanding of the possible consequences of what she says and does, but that could be tied into the loose definition of having the mind of a child. There is ample evidence that shows there is some kind of mental disability and she really needs to be evaluated, and without parents to look after her interests anymore the court should appoint a guardian for her depending on how vulnerable her disability makes her.

http://www.dailymail.com/News/statenews/200910221172
Rufus Norma, 33, said he worked with Williams at a Taco Bell in 2006. He said it was clear she had mental health issues.

"We had to basically baby-sit her with everything," he said.

Norman, a former Charleston resident now living in Logan, said Megan was "very gullible" and could easily have been manipulated to revise her story.

"Maybe somebody's got in her head," Norman said.

Logan resident Rebecca Compton agrees.

"I think she's lying, and I think someone down there has scared her into changing her story," she said.

Ronald Jones, director of the Appalachian Center for Equality, says he's not sure Williams is telling the truth, either.

"On her behalf, it may be an opportunity to try and grasp some more publicity," he said.

Bill Williamson, a piano tuner from Logan, says he also has doubts about Williams' new claims.

"I think the girl is not really capable of knowing what's right and wrong," he said.



Good news... Potts, Megan's new attorney who made the announcement that she was recanting, has finally figured out she's got some serious mental issues...

http://wvgazette.com/News/200910221024
Potts said he plans to see that Williams has a mental evaluation; otherwise, he won't remain involved in the case. "The way she reacted to what's going on, I have some concerns about her competence," he said.

Daniels agrees that Williams needs a mental evaluation. She said Williams cut her hair off a week ago, in an attempt to look as she looked shortly after she was found in Logan County.

[DavidDvorkin]

2. If she did lie

then what kinds of pressure were used to get those admissions of guilt?

[TrogL]

3. Probably the Reid Technique - they've been using it on victims for ages

[JonQ]

6. What's that?

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Quantess]

5. Why? Because of the "shades of Duke" comment?

Just curious.

[Rage for Order]

12. I'm curious about that too

What part of the OP makes WriteDown "really a racist"? Is it the fact that the story was posted at all, or the "shades of Duke" part? And why would either action reveal a person to be a racist?

:shrug:

[No Elephants]

51. Sometimes, you assess a poster by a pattern of posting, rather any one post.

Just to be perfectly clear, I am not saying the OP or anyone else either is or isn't a racist. I am just making a general observation about why you cannot defend every statement you may make about a post by parsing a single post.

I really don't see much of a reason to raise Duke in connection with this story when the same kind of thing is not done when white folks make false accusations, though. Please see Reply 56.

[JonQ]

7. Sickening

arrest her and let her serve out her victims sentences (assuming she really did lie).

[harry_pothead]

50. Agree 100%

[dolphindance]

8. Which part did she lie about. The whole thing? Was she abducted at all?

I mean was she still abducted, but lied about the torture?

[Lance_Boyle]

10. article is very slim on details

maybe it was consensual S&M (which would explain why they were able to convict on "physical evidence" - the activities happened, but if consensual, no crime was committed). Strange.

[bertman]

11. A Tawana Brawley wannabe?? The prosecutor was able to convict those guys. What gives?

[LisaL]

29. They plead guilty. Plea deals. There was no trial.

[bc3000]

13. Thank god the first three words of this article let me know I was reading about a black woman

So I knew what to think while reading it

/sarcasm

[Rage for Order]

14. Well, it makes sense

The stories from 2007 that reported the crime were written the same way. The race of both the victim and the alleged attackers were highlighted early and often, so why should follow-up stories be any different?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/09/13/national/a002541D76.DTL

"Authorities say they held a 20-year-old black woman for about a week at their mobile home, where she was tortured, sexually assaulted and forced to eat rat droppings. Megan Williams' captors, who were white..."

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_wires/2007Sep28/0,4675,WomanTorturedRace,00.html

"Ever since police arrested six whites in the rape and torture of a black woman, Claude Williams has been accepting apologies."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-10-23-4142244040_x.htm

"For at least a week, authorities say, the 20-year-old black woman was kept captive in a shed, tortured, beaten, forced to eat rat, dog and human feces, and raped by six white men and women who taunted her with racial slurs."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14380944

"Six people, all white, have been arrested in connection with the kidnap, torture and rape of a young black woman in Logan County, West Virginia. Some are calling it a hate crime. Greg Collard, News Director at West Virginia Public Broadcasting, gives listeners a look inside the case."

...

There are numerous other articles from 2007 that follow the same pattern. Did you complain then that the manner in which those stories were written were telling you "what to think while reading" them?

[bertman]

32. I have to say that I appreciate the way you made your very valid point, Rage For Order.

It's pretty sick how anything between people of different races has to become a race issue. Understandable to a degree, but still sick.

[Rage for Order]

36. Thank you Bertman

And yes, they will use anything they can to divide us, instilling an "us vs. them" mentality in the general populace, while the greedy crooks on Wall Street and Capitol Hill rob us blind.

[TorchTheWitch]

45. There's actually a good reason for that

This was being pushed as a racial hate crime particularly by the woman's family. There were lots of demonstrations and various groups sending donation money to the family for that reason. Apparently, it wasn't found to be a hate crime because she knew all the people involved personally. So yes, because of the racial hate crime aspect the family was really pushing it makes sense that articles written about it would identify the people involved by race.

[JonQ]

58. I guess it's only acceptable to mention race

to some on here, when blacks are the victims and whites the perpetrators. Never the other way around.

[noiretextatique]

74. i assume you weren't here for the OJ Simpson trial

:wtf:

[JonQ]

80. Nope

I was not.

But I have noticed people getting far more upset about mentioning race around here when the victim is white and perp black, rather than the other way around.

[noiretextatique]

93. you would know that's complete bullshit

if you were here. 80% of Duers are white, so this place isn't bastion of black consciousness.

[JonQ]

95. Sure,

that's why people are getting upset that they mentioned this woman is black, even though it is extremely germane to the case.

[imdjh]

157. May not be a bastion of black consciousness, it does appear to be a bastion of warped perception...

... at times.

[Codeine]

103. Where is "here" in the context of that question?

[GinaMaria]

144. Did DU even exist yet at that time? N/T

[jwirr]

15. Seven people plead guilty. Why? If she was lying there should have

been a whole lot more fight than pleas. It just seems strange to me. Would you plead guilty to something you did not do?

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

16. You think only guilty people take plea bargains?

Let's see, we'll let you serve 3 years, 2 of which you have already served or you can go to trial and face 30 years. I'm guessing for the average innocent person that would be a hard decision to make.

[saigon68]

18. Your comment sums up the sorry state of Justice in amerika

Good luck with a jury. They convict and sentence a lot of Innocent people to death.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

19. Especially in high exposure cases.

[struggle4progress]

69. Bobby Ray Brewster previously killed his own father. And a month before the instant case, police

arrested him for domestic battery on Megan Williams; he was out on bail at the time of the later and more famous incident. He pleaded guilty in July 08 to sexual assault and conspiracy to kidnap charges, and was sentenced to 13 - 40 years (not 3 years)

His mother, Frankie Lee Brewster, previously served time for killing her mother-in-law. She pleaded guilty in the Megan Williams case and was sentenced in March 08 to 10 - 25 years (not 3 years)

Karen Burton was indicted for a hate crime (associated with stabbing Megan): she pleaded guilty was sentenced in March 08 to two 2 - 10 year sentences and a third 10 year sentence (not 3 years), to be served consecutively

Karen Burton's son (Linnie Burton Jr) and her daughter (Alisha Burton) both accepted plea bargains. Alisha Burton pleaded guilty in February 08 and was sentenced to 10 years (not 3) for assault and kidnapping; she apparently provided evidence against her mother, before being indicted herself; she also wrote to the NYT corroborating that Megan had been held captive. Linnie Burton Jr was given a 6 month suspended sentence for battery in June 08, as a result of his plea bargain: this was the only minor sentence in the case

Danny Combs pleaded guilty in September 08 to assault and conspiracy to kidnap charges and was sentenced to 4 - 20 years (not 3 years)

George Messer pleaded guilty and was sentenced in February 08 to 10 years (not 3 years)

It is certainly possible that we are dealing with a gross miscarriage of justice here, but the first impression might be otherwise. The household had a history of violence; essentially everyone involved had a criminal record, and Alisha Burton did tell the NYT that Megan Williams had been held against her will. Megan Williams also spent time in the hospital after police removed her from the Brewster residence for the second time within a month in 2007. All defendants negotiated plea bargains, but only one of those involved a minor sentence

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

97. I was speaking about plea bargains in general terms.

I had no idea what the penalties were in this case. Reductions of those levels are not unheard of though. I have no idea what happened, I do hope that whatever the truth is that it comes out.

[LisaL]

28. My guess is they are the kind of people that couldn't afford

fancy lawyers. Money talks.

[JonQ]

67. 6 white people in a high profile "hate crime" case

the judge threatens to throw the book at them, and the evidence and public sympathy are stacked against them. Then they're offered a deal: plead guilty and we'll show some leniency.

People plead guilty all the time when they aren't, it's unfortunate but true.

[Realityhack]

139. So as this case proceded though the legal process.

at exactly what point is it that you think a *Judge* could have threatened to 'throw the book at them'?

[JonQ]

151. Not sure, I wasn't there

merely going by other examples.

Are you saying that this sort of thing doesn't happen? That people never falsely confess to crimes in charged cases with potentially very long sentences when their chances are looking bad? Because I would have to disagree with you on that.

[Realityhack]

165. Depends upon what you mean by "this sort of thing"

If by that you mean an innocent person taking a plea to a lesser charge after a *prosecutor* threatens to charge them with an offense that carries a higher penalty or says they will seek the maximum sentence. Then sure, that happens.

But you said after a *Judge* threatened to 'throw the book at them'.

My question was when you thought Judges were involved in the process. I was pointing out that you either made a silly mistake or do not understand the process.

All of this is irrelevant to this case IMO given the facts of this particular incident and the confessions etc.

[mule_train]

89. why plead guilty? becasue you're guilty until proven innocent, no matter what anyone says

and when you have a choice of pleading guilty for a short sentence or probably being found guilty based on perjured testimony and getting a long sentence, it's not an easy choice

this wasnt a message board debate to them, it was their lives on the line

and it wasnt the high school civics bool fantacy courtroom, it was the real world, where innocent people DO get convicted

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

17. I hope, whatever the truth is that it comes out.

[951-Riverside]

21. Black Woman Retracts White Torture Claim

Source: The Associated Press

An attorney for a black woman who claimed torture by a white group in West Virginia says his client fabricated the story to get back at a boyfriend who had beaten her up.

Megan Williams' attorney, Byron Potts, said at a news conference Wednesday that Williams came forward because she no longer wants to live a lie. Potts encouraged West Virginia authorities to re-evaluate the case.

Williams told authorities in 2007 that she had been beaten, raped, forced to eat animal feces and taunted with racial slurs for days. She now lives in Columbus.

Seven white men and women were convicted in the case and are serving prison time.

Read more: http://cbs4.com/national/torture.fabrication.megan.2.1263061.html

[virgogal]

22. What a great way to get back at a boyfriend. She should be punished

for the lie.

[pnwmom]

24. The prosecutors apparently don't believe her. I wonder what her state of mind

is now -- whether she is/was mentally ill.

[Lagomorph]

38. Of course they don't agree...

...all they give a damn about is a conviction and a closed case. Nobody cares if the defendant is guilty or not.

[LisaL]

41. Either way you look at it, if she is recanting her story now,

it doesn't exactly make her the most credible witness.

[Realityhack]

140. No. but from what I understand the prosecutor never thought she was

He thought there might have been embellishments to the story etc. So he went on the physical evidence and confessions of the suspects.
So I am not sure it makes that much difference.

[Lance_Boyle]

59. her victims have now served almost 2 years apiece

That's 12 years she needs to serve right up front. I'd tack on extra for failing to come clean BEFORE ruining 6 innocent people's lives.

Anybody know if charges were ever filed against the vile creature who tried to pull a similar stunt at Hofstra a few months back? These cases need to be prosecuted VIGOROUSLY.

[Realityhack]

166. I suggest you read up on the specifics of...

an individual case before going off emotionally about it.
It might prevent you from looking quite so reactionary.

[pnwmom]

23. What a mess. n/t

[lurky]

25. The right wing will cling to this incident for decades.

As proof of how oppressed they are.

[Liberal_in_LA]

33. like the Tawana Brawley case. Ignoring 'backwards b' and all the rest of course

[Number23]

34. Not just the right-wing. A few posts in this very thread prove that.

[No Elephants]

53. Posting on this thread does not mean the poster is not RW.

It often amazes me how posters who never make a single post that sounds remotely Democratic remain at DU for years with no pizza.

[ieoeja]

70. You are WRITE. I am DOWN with you on that. (nt)

[bluestateguy]

26. She belongs in jail for a long time

And I don't give a shit if she is mentally ill, or grew up in poverty.

She caused 7 people to go to jail over nothing.

[struggle4progress]

118. Prosecutor looks back on Williams case (Charleston Gazette | December 2008)

December 7, 2008
Prosecutor looks back on Williams case
Megan Williams never told a jury what seven people in Logan County did to her. Yet all seven were convicted for their part in abusing Williams, admitting in plea deals to crimes ranging from kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault to battery and committing a hate crime.
By Gary A. Harki

... Reflecting on his work on the case during a recent interview, Abraham said: "Some of the things she was saying were not consistent with what we were aware of as the facts of the case.

"It became immediately clear that she would not be a witness" ...

Nearly all of the defendants told on each other to some degree, Abraham said.

"Some tried to minimize their own involvement, but then there was Bobby <Brewster>. He didn't; he basically told everything" ...

http://www.sundaygazettemail.com/News/200812060490

[panader0]

27. Where's the flying balloon?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

30. This doesn't make sense...

How does implicating innocent people "get back at a boyfriend who beat her up"?

As I recall, she was pretty messed up physically. Surely someone should pay for that crime, though certainly not people who are not guilty of it.

[LisaL]

31. What doesn't make sense?

One of the people accused was her boyfriend.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

37. The article doesn't mention that.

Was it written elsewhere, or is it presumed?

Even if one of the people found guilty was her boyfriend, implicating innocent people would not exact revenge on the guilty one.

The whole story sounds sketchy to me.

[LisaL]

40. No it is not presumed. It has been reported one of the

people accused is her boyfriend.

[mule_train]

60. funny how this 'crime' got more publicity than cases of real torture

but it's politically incorrect to discuss the differences

[Erebus67]

35. I do not envy the people that are going to have to sort this mess out.

Did she only lie about part of it? Did she lie about all of it? Did she not lie at all(until now)?

Can you appeal a guilty plea? Seems to me I remember hearing you can't. I could be wrong. If they can, whether she was lying back then or now they are going to have grounds to discredit any of her testimony. However if she was stabbed I don't think you can legally consent to something like that. IANAL so someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Big mess for someone to deal with.

Yea whenever someone of one race is accused of committing a crime against someone of another race it seems that them being of different races becomes the most important detail of the issue. It seems like they throw it out there first and formost like if the accused and the victim are of different races it must be true or it must have been motivated by race.

[hollowdweller]

39. Seems like I recall

That she was supposed to have been there and left several times before the alleged crime. Also the prosecutor at the time was hesitant to prosecute as a hate crime.

I never quite bought the story as she told it because it was pretty obvious she'd been hanging with those folks socially and then something happened. On the other hand they pretty much DID do most of that stuff to her probably so they will stay in jail. The facts of WHY they did may change though.

[paulsby]

42. like i've said before

to paraphrase alan dershowitz. rape is simultaneously the most underreported (real incidents that don't get reported) and overreported (fake incidents) crime.

[No Elephants]

54. I would not go by anything Dershowitz says about any subject.

He speaks with forked agenda, so fork him.

[paulsby]

55. he speaks with immense

experience as a criminal defense attorney.

just because i don't agree with him on some political issues is irrelevant.

dershowitz is pragmatic, honest, and searingly intelligent.

[TorchTheWitch]

43. none of the people plead guilty because of her testimony

In reading a lot of articles about this the prosecutor never used her testimony against any of the defendants because he said he believed she was being manipulated by her family members to embelish certain things... particularly the hate crime aspect which is partly why he didn't go for that. All of the defendants implicated themselves and each other as to what happened which did match up to her original testimony and matched the physical evidence. Since the defendants would have been interrigated separately I'm not seeing how all of their descriptions of what happened matched up. And there's no question that she had been beaten up since she was found in that condition and spent quite some time in the hospital. The prosecutor also said that the only reason he allowed any plea agreements (which the family was furious about) was because with the family manipulation of her, her testimony was going off the rails. There was also some kind of monkey business her family was involved in having something to do with donation money they were getting that the prosecutor warned various groups about that wanted to get involved and collect donation money because they believed it was a racial hate crime.

She now claims that she stabbed herself and her beating injuries were caused by some previous fight (she doesn't say with who or under what circumstances), and sorry, but they would have been able to tell if her injuries were older ones when she was examined. She chickened out of doing the press conference at the last minute and her attorney came out and said she didn't want to do it because she was scared, so he just said that she now claims the whole thing was a lie to get back at her boyfriend and she wants all the people sent to jail freed including her boyfriend. But that doesn't make any sense... how could her implicating all those people who confessed other than her boyfriend who also confessed have been a way to get back at him for something she doesn't even specify? How do all those other people have anything to do with her vague "wanted to get back at her boyfriend"?

Something really whacko is going on here. Her story now doesn't make any sense, and the physical evidence (which wouldn't be just her physical injuries) matched up to what all of the defendants implicated themselves and each other about. I'm not seeing how it's possible that the people who plead guilty didn't actually do the things they confessed to.

I really don't get this at all.

[LisaL]

64. I don't know what exactly these people said.

I suppose it's quite possible in their statements and "confessions" they blamed each other, which doesn't necessarily mean they actually did anything. If you get a group, it is quite possible for them to turn on each other and start telling stories, even though it's not true.
I don't know if that is the case here, but such a thing with a group of people implicating each other even though it didn't happen, has happened before.

[struggle4progress]

44. ... Who knows what to make of this. Judging from hospital pictures, she was clearly injured badly

during the incident. And prosecutors say she made an unreliable witness from the start, so they largely relied on physical evidence. Megan's own mother referred to her as "slow," and the NAACP was worried about her mental state at the time ...

Megan Williams Says She Lied About Racially Charged Torture, Gang Rape
http://www.truecrimereport.com/2009/10/megan_williams_says_she_lied_a.php

[struggle4progress]

46. Megan Williams' story is simply unbelievable

By Dr. Boyce Watkins
3:23 PM on 10/21/2009

... Abraham also claims that he did what any good prosecutor should do: achieve a conviction based on physical evidence and the defendants' statements. If there is evidence that a sexual assault occurred and proof that Williams endured kidnapping and torture, such evidence should certainly outweigh the significance of any statements made by Williams. There are also other possibilities in this case, such as the chance that Williams may be receiving threats that have pressured her to change her testimony.

If it is indeed the case that Williams was lying all along, a few things need to happen. The defendants should be released, Williams should be prosecuted, and the prosecutor's office should be held accountable for convicting innocent parties for crimes they did not commit. The mere possibility that such an outrageous distortion of the truth made its way through the scrutiny of our justice system should scare the heck out of all of us.

Williams' case brings quite a few questions to light and is one of the most confusing sequences of events I've seen in media over the last few years. First, there is the question that was asked by my good friend Roland Martin, who wondered why the rape and torture of this woman did not receive more media attention. Secondly, there is the question of how you go about properly compensating the family for what they may have been put through. Thirdly, there is the question of what to do with Williams now, given that she is throwing herself under the bus. Finally - if Williams isn't lying about her first statement being a lie - we need to ask the prosecutor how he so firmly convicted individuals for crimes they did not commit.

When it comes to Megan Williams, the bottom line is that the public needs reliable answers. Williams' press conference today has very little credibility. Either this woman is a serious liar, mentally disabled, or she is under undue pressure to state things that simply aren't true. Either way, she has almost no tenability as a potential witness ...

http://www.thegrio.com/2009/10/megan-williams-an-african-american.php

[struggle4progress]

47. Authorities Investigate Torture in West Virginia (NPR | Sep 07)

... Mr. COLLARD: The Sheriff's Department says that they acted on a tip that someone was being held against their will and went to the residents - the person who's called one of the ring leaders, Frankie Brewster. She was on the porch, said no one else was around. And while the police were there, Megan Williams limped forward and just reached out and said help me, and they learned some horrific details after that.

MARTIN: What condition was the young lady in when she was discovered?

Mr. COLLARD: Well, she was pretty beaten - beaten pretty brutally. She .. had obviously been tortured, hit throughout, raped. They said it was proof that she was sexually assaulted throughout the week - just really horrific things.

MARTIN: And stabbed several times, apparently ...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14380944

[ieoeja]

72. So the Sheriff's department RESCUED her while she was still there!?!

So the primary eyewitnesses against the alleged perps were ... the police themselves!

I think the original convictions will stand on this one.

[struggle4progress]

73. Two police rescues from the property in one month. Nobody's claiming Megan Williams is a genius.

[struggle4progress]

49. ... On Saturday, police say they approached the trailer. Frankie Brewster told them that no one was

Williams limped toward the door with her arms held out, saying, “help me.” But last week wasn’t the first time police had come to the Brewster trailer to look for Williams. Just two months ago, they arrested Bobby Ray Brewster on that same porch for allegedly beating Williams. There are some striking similarities between the two events. On July 19th, Bobby Ray Brewster told police he hadn’t seen Williams for several days, according to the criminal complaint. The police searched anyway, and found Williams behind the trailer. She said she was hiding from Bobby Ray and his mother, Frankie, and that she was beaten just before the officers arrived ...

Torture suspect accused of beating alleged rape victim before -- 9/14/08
By Scott Finn, West Virginia Public Broadcasting
http://wvpubcastnews.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/bobbybrewster.doc

[struggle4progress]

52. Williams saga takes another strange turn

October 21, 2009
Williams saga takes another strange turn
By Gary A. Harki
Staff writer
Advertiser

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Megan Williams, who was supposed to take back her story that seven Logan County residents beat, raped and tortured her, didn't speak at a press conference at her lawyer's office on Wednesday.

Instead, lawyer Byron L. Potts recanted her claims for her. He said Williams told him that the only injuries that weren't self-inflicted were the bruises on her face.

"She is recanting the entire incident. She says it did not happen, and she's scared,'' Potts said ...

http://wvgazette.com/News/200910210531

[No Elephants]

56. ....

"Mr. COLLARD: Well, she was pretty beaten - beaten pretty brutally. She .. had obviously been tortured, hit throughout, raped. They said it was proof that she was sexually assaulted throughout the week - just really horrific things.

MARTIN: And stabbed several times, apparently ..."



Ever try to beat yourself "brutally" and stab yourself several times?



"Instead, lawyer Byron L. Potts recanted her claims for her. He said Williams told him that the only injuries that weren't self-inflicted were the bruises on her face.

"She is recanting the entire incident. She says it did not happen, and she's scared,'' Potts said ..."


No, she isn't "recanting the entire incident." She says the bruises on her face were not self-inflicted, so she is saying some crime was committed, if only assault and battery. So, why is HER OWN lawyer mischaracterizing her words in a way that is disadvantageous to her?

So, supposedly someone beat her about the face, then she beat herself brutally on the rest of her body, stabbed herself several times, then reported a crime that never happened, instead of reporting the person or people who beat her face?

Possible, but this is NOT the same as the Duke story. The only thing the two have in common is a black woman who recanted her story about white men. Lots of white people recant their story about other white people and Lord knows, lots of white people have lied bout black people committing "crimes" (like whistling at a white woman), whether they ever recanted their stories or not.

I guess, if this woman is charged with making a false report, she could be charged with a hate crime, too, even though her alleged attackers were never charged with a hate crime. I wonder if that will make the RW feel any better about hate crime legislation.

[LisaL]

63. The chances of her being charged with anything, I would guess,

are zero.
Prosecutor has already stated he doesn't believe her recantation. But even assuming she had some sort of altercation with her boyfriend, what about other people? Six people got prison sentences, and now she appears to be saying they (other than her boyfriend) weren't involved in anything, since she is recanting the incident.

[TorchTheWitch]

57. Whoa - this really stinks

Sharpton said he told Potts on Tuesday that if Megan was lying and wanted to recant her story, then she should go public. He said he wrote a letter to the Logan County prosecutor saying that if Williams was lying, then the prosecutor should look into the case.

"This was not a case I represented at all," Sharpton said. "I think this guy is trying to get national attention. ... It seemed odd to us. This was not our case."

So, it's Al Sharpton that tells Megan's attorney on Tuesday that IF Megan was lying (and it appears that all he's going on is her embelishing how she was first discovered when she was rescued on The Montel Williams Show) and wanted to recant her story that she should go public. WTF? This looks like it was Sharpton giving the idea to Potts about recanting her whole story! And since Megan didn't want to do the press conference and didn't, it appears that it's Potts that got the idea for the press conference AND the idea about her recanting her whole story... HE's the only one who is recanting the whole story. And now Sharpton says that this is odd and he thinks Potts is just trying to get national attention!

This woman really needs a court appointed guardian just as the prosecutor wanted in the beginning and she needs a mental evaluation. She was used by her family, and that Black Panther guy and now that her thieving mother has died the woman that lives with her sister jumped on the user train as well. It looks like Megan does have some sort of mental issue that makes her so easily manipulated she just seems to follow along willingly with anyone that's using her.

And this attorney that could end up prosecuting her was one of the defendant's attorney's in the case. He says that he thinks that such a conflict of interest would require a special prosecutor but he'd still do it if the judge said he could! How the hell can one of the defendant's attorneys prosecute her now for making up the whole story when he allowed that defendant of his to plead guilty and sit in jail all this time!

What the shit is going on here???

[marshall]

167. At least Sharpton learned from history

Better to get the retraction out sooner than later, especially when everybody has alibis and the evidence refutes the claim.

[mule_train]

61. Does the media/civil rights culture contribute to this?

it's not the first time this has happened

or the second

twana brawley and duke lacrsoss

no matter what race you are, you've had a low point in your life, and maybe you were incredibly angry at someone

but if you're black, there's an additional temptation - you make a false accusation, and al sharpton will be booking a flight for a city within 24 hours

all of the media will be crying about what a wonderfull person you are, and what a terrible thing happened to you, you will have 15 minutes of fame - a pity party with champaign and caviaar

maybe you will right a book

there's a machine that's very hungry for these stories

youtube of a news crew about a girl drawing swastiksa on her own door. a dry marker on an erasable marker board, and she's on TV!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCODw9ewoWo

they actually had the fbi in on this (and presumably were ready to deal out harsh criminal sentence), but back off to leaning toward 'councelling' when it turned out the 'perp' was the 'victim' herself

when guilt is collective, some people wont see any accusation as false

[mule_train]

87. Today's 'racism' hysteria much like early 1950s 'Communism' hysteria

point a finger at someone and cry 'Racist' and their reputation is ruined, whether is's really true or not, just like accusations of 'communist' 55 years ago

no question it happened in duke lacross and may have happened here

any time you dont like what someone is saying, you dont have a rebuttle, just hint that the person might be racist

if a tech worker doesnt like being fired and forced to train their indian replacement, dont address the injustice, just call them a racist

[Brickbat]

62. Sad all the way around.

She's got some real problems, and it sounds like the whole boyfriend's family does too. What a mess.

[struggle4progress]

65. Megan Williams faces death threats as she recants rape, torture allegations

By Scott Finn and Beth Vorhees

October 21, 2009 · Megan Williams refused to face reporters at a press conference in Columbus Wednesday because she has received death threats, according to her lawyer, Byron Potts ...

Williams told him she stabbed herself with a straight-razor, although Potts admitted he did not understand how one could stab oneself with a razor.

Police found Williams in the trailer where Brewster lived with his mother, Frankie Brewster.

When he was a juvenile, Bobby Brewster was convicted of killing his father. He also had a record of domestic violence against Williams ...

http://www.wvpubcast.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=11740

[JonQ]

68. Poor dear, recieving death threats

I mean all she did was send 6 innocent people to jail for 40 years a piece because of some petty argument she had with her boyfriend, all the while fanning the flames of racism in this country and making it harder for actual rape victims to seek justice.

I mean, is that such a big deal?

[struggle4progress]

71. Bobby Ray Brewster, sentenced to 13 - 40 years on a plea bargain, previously killed his own father

and was out on bail for an earlier assault on Williams when the incident under consideration occurred. His mother, Frankie Lee Brewster, sentenced to 10 - 25 years on a plea bargain, previously killed her mother-in-law; the incident under consideration and the previous assault on Williams both occurred in her home. Karen Burton's sequential two 2 - 10 year and third 10 year, also resulting from plea bargain, appear to be supported in part by evidence her daughter Alisha Burton provided before being indicted herself. Danny Combs' 4 - 20 year sentence was also the result of a plea bargain. The result of the sentences were for 10 years, based on plea bargains, except for Linnie Burton Jr's 6 month suspended sentence

So, first, your description of the sentencing is inaccurate

Reports from the time of the original incident suggest Megan Williams is mentally 10 or 12 years old. Her deficiencies as a witness were recognized immediately. She is now apparently saying, indirectly though her attorney, that she fabricated certain elements of the story because she was angry at Bobby Ray Brewster for beating her. Megan Williams, for example, apparently now reports (indirectly) that she invented a story about being forced to have oral sex with a woman, who (she now indicates) was fictitious; she apparently also claims her stab wounds were self inflicted with a straight razor -- though no one has explained how someone stabs herself with a straight razor. On the other hand, Alisha Burton wrote letters to the NYT last year verifying that Megan Williams was held at the Brewster household against her will; Megan Williams apparently continues to claim she was assaulted; and she was confined to hospital for a period after the second police rescue in 2007 from the Brewster household

So, whatever is going on here, your assertion, that she was upset about "some petty argument she had with her boyfriend," seems to be inaccurate

[LisaL]

75. So there might have been a beating of her by her boyfriend.

She appears to be saying she fabricated or embellished the rest of the story (which involved a large number of people) to get back at the boyfriend for the beating.
I am very curious regarding all of these people. Was each one of them involved in anything at all?
Or are you going to argue it doesn't matter?

[noiretextatique]

77. i believe the boyfriend was bobby brewster

i believe she was tortured and held by the people who were convicted. i think she embellished the racial angle for financial gain. she claims her mother told her to do that.

[LisaL]

79. I don't think she is just saying she embellished the racial angle.

She appears to be saying she embellished the whole story of being attacked by a group of people. There was even a woman accused of sexual assault, if I recall correctly, which isn't common.
I am frankly very curious if prosecutor actually had any evidence against each one of these people.

[noiretextatique]

90. however, that claim is not sustantiated by one of the defendants

who says they did kidnap and torture her.

[LisaL]

99. Which defendant? If you are going to make a claim like that,

you need to provide a link.

[smokey nj]

141. Alisha Burton to the NYT, from one of the links struggle4progress posted down thread.

"But in correspondence with The New York Times starting in February 2008, one of the accused offered a more complicated picture of life at the trailer.

In a letter in March 2008, that person, Alisha Burton, wrote that Ms. Williams had been held captive but only after a romantic relationship with Mr. Brewster took a turn for the worse.

“At the end, Frankie and her son, Bobby, would take turns pushing the chair by the door and sleeping there at night,” Ms. Burton wrote. “They made sure she wouldn’t go get the help she needed when she was cut by Bobby. She was held there for a week after she was cut by Bobby and Frankie B. b/c they was scared someone would get the law.”

Ms. Burton confirmed that Mr. Brewster had beaten Ms. Williams, but rejected the notion that the abuse was a hate crime, since Ms. Williams and Mr. Brewster had dated for months."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/us/22abuse.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=us&adxnnlx=1256328277-chvUvloUG4xVMuNFRDaY0A

[LisaL]

148. That isn't saying "they all did it."

She appears to be implicating the boyfriend and his mother.
I don't see anything suggesting she is confessing to doing anything herself.

[struggle4progress]

86. My POV is: first the facts, then the analysis. Do feel free to post some facts. I've provided

an number of links in this thread, and in several posts I've attempted to summarize what I think I know about the case. If you are a careful reader, you'll notice that I haven't expressed much of a definite opinion, other than indicating first impressions based on whatever facts I have been able to locate

The woman is apparently developmentally disabled, and her story changed with time. The defendants all apparently had criminal records, some for quite serious crimes, and seem to be unattractive people. The police, attacking on tips, rescued the woman from the property twice within a month; the first time, the boyfriend lied about whether the woman was there; police found her hiding and arrested the boyfriend for domestic battery; he was out on bail for that arrest when re-arrested at the time of the second rescue. The woman spent time in the hospital after the second rescue. All defendants pleaded guilty, and the case against the defendant indicted for a hate crime seems to have been supported by a family member, who also wrote to the NYT indicating that the woman had been prevented from leaving the property

These facts leave a certain first impression. If you want to argue that such a first impression is not definitive, I must (of course) agree. But I would also say: the mere fact -- that a person is unable to provide, over an extended period of time, a consistent account of how she was injured, or that a developmentally disabled person changes her story after several years -- does not necessarily mean that the story is wrong in every detail, and it certainly would not require us to discount all other evidence supporting portions of her account

Of course, if Megan Williams had taken the stand in a jury trial to make lurid accusation against defendants, all of whom were loudly protesting their innocence, and convictions resulted primarily from her testimony, a different first impression of the cases might result. But those are not the actual facts

[struggle4progress]

101. ... On Saturday, Logan County deputies received a tip about a woman being held against her will

at the Brewster residence. A person working in the area had heard disturbing noises coming from the trailer and seen the victim with cuts on her leg through the window, the police said.

“Upon the deputies’ arrival, they found Mrs. Frankie Brewster sitting on the front porch,” a police report says. The deputies asked Mrs. Brewster if anyone else was at the residence and she said she was alone.

As she was talking, the police documents say, Mrs. Brewster got up and stepped toward the door, when a woman inside the residence limped toward the door with her arms held out and said, “Help me.” The woman’s eyes were bruised and she had four large stab wounds on her left leg, the police said.

Police documents say Mrs. Brewster admitted to holding the victim at the trailer against her will and beating her ...

Woman, 20, Was Imprisoned and Tortured, Police Say
By CHRIS STRATTON and IAN URBINA
Published: September 12, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/us/12captive.html?_r=1

[JonQ]

81. Whatever her problem with her boyfriend was

that doesn't give her license to make up lies about him, or 5 other people who are not a part of that screwed up relationship.

The facts are that she lied to get revenge on him, made a mockery of the judicial system, and selfishly penalized 5 (possibly 6) people for a crime they never committed.

And yes, I got the sentences wrong, I misread another article on the subject.

Still, they were sentenced to lengthy terms: 13 - 40 for the boyfriend. 20 or so for the rest.

[LisaL]

83. One woman plead guilty to hate crime for stabbing her, while making

racial statements. Now, if Williams says she injured/stabbed herself, I wonder what is that woman doing in prison?

[JonQ]

84. I'm skeptical of the confessions personally

it's not that hard to get people to confess to crimes they know they didn't commit if A) they know they can't afford a good defense, B) the public is clearly against them and C) they are promised a reduced sentence in what will likely be a slamdunk case anyway.

This case had all three elements.

[LisaL]

85. Add to that-a group of defendants is involved.

They can be turned against each other easily. For example, one can be told that the others already confessed, and if he/she doesn't confess, he/she will get a much longer sentence than the rest. Or one can be told the others implicated him/her already, so he/she better confess to get a shorter sentence, etc. Especially considering these types of accused, who appear to be without much money, and at least some with criminal records.

[struggle4progress]

88. Kidnapping can carry a life sentence, and there's certainly independent evidence for the kidnapping

charges (as I've noticed repeatedly in this thread) in Alisha Burton's letters to the NYT

All defendants (except Linnie Burton Jr) were originally indicted for a kidnapping conspiracy, among various other charges, and Alisha Burton (among others) eventually pleaded guilty to a kidnapping conspiracy

As far as I know, no one coerced Alisha Burton into writing to the NYT

[LisaL]

100. Do you have Burton's full letter?

Because from what is provided by NYT article posted on this thread, Burton appears to implicate the boyfriend and the mother, and doesn't indicate she or any of the others were involved in this "kidnapping conspiracy."

[struggle4progress]

102. Please do feel free to track down some links yourself. I've spent several hours doing so today,

and my primary interest in doing so has been to see what actual facts can be uncovered easily

Nothing I find so far is changing my first impressions. The Brewster residence was a violent place. Megan Williams' boyfriend Bobby Brewster had killed his father there, and his mother Frankie Brewster had later killed her 84 year-old mother-in-law there. A third murder occurred at the site in 2005, and police found a slashing victim there in 2007. Responding to tips, police rescued Megan Williams from the property twice within a month; the first time, Bobby Brewster was arrested for domestic battery against her; while he was out on bail, the police returned, again responding to a tip, and Frankie Brewster told them she was alone before Megan Williams (with a battered face and multiple stab wounds) came forward asking them to help her, after which Frankie Brewster admitted to police that she was confining the woman there against her will and beating her. Megan Williams landed in hospital for a spell

The Brewsters and their associates seem to have been a rough bunch, and they uniformly pleaded guilty to various illegal intrusions on Megan Williams' liberty and person. Megan Williams has changed her story before, and of course that might be an indication she was lying -- but she doesn't seem to be very bright, and perhaps she merely can't keep the facts straight in her head

I am certainly willing to concede abstractly the possibility that some defendants in this complex of cases may have been railroaded -- but it is not a slam-dunk; the argument doesn't just write itself; an obvious injustice does not just leap right out of the page at me

[LisaL]

109. I've already stated I can not find Burton's full letter.

I don't think NYT printed it.
From what was published in the NYT article, I infer that Burton didn't implicate herself in the letter. If you are using the letter as an example of at least one defendant claiming they did it, you should provide a link.

[struggle4progress]

119. I've posted whatever informative links I've found. You might look at

my #104 where the former prosecutor says the assailants documented some of their abuses with a disposable camera or my
#118 where the former prosecutor says that from the beginning he regarded Megan Williams as unreliable ("It became immediately clear that she would not be a witness"), but that Bobby Brewster provided an essentially complete confession, and all the defendants provided evidence against each other

[noiretextatique]

76. the prosecutor did not rely soley on her testimony to convict them

frankly, i don't believe the recantation. it seems she had a relationship with one of the defendants, but another defendant confirms that she was held against her will and stabbed. i think the racial angle was exploited, possibly for financial gain, but i don't think the people who were convicted were remotely "innocent."

[LisaL]

78. There were six people total that got long prison sentences.

Not just the boyfriend.
If she says she embellished her story, what about these people?
What evidence did prosecutor have against them? As I recall, there was even a woman accused of sexually assaulting her (that sort of thing isn't common). One woman plead guilty to hate crime for stabbing her, yet Williams now appears to be saying she stabbed herself.
I certainly have a lot of questions as to whether each one of these people was involved in anything regarding Williams, especially considering Williams now seems to be recanting her story.

[noiretextatique]

91. what about the defendant who still says they did it?

:shrug: i find it very hard to believe that they were convicted soley based on her account of events.

[LisaL]

98. Which defendant still says they did it?

If you are referring to the letter send by Alisha Burton to NYT, I can not find the full letter, but from NYT article, it appears Burton implicates the boyfriend and the boyfriend's mother.
What about the rest of them, including Burton herself?

[struggle4progress]

120. Um, more accurately: which of them now claims not to have done it? All pleaded guilty: which of them

now claims to have been railroaded?

[JonQ]

82. Yeah, they probably had it coming

they shouldn't have been around her if they didn't want to be accused of rape. So even if they're innocent they're still guilty of making a bad judgment call and so it's fair to punish them.

I mean look at them, they *look* like rapists, so they were asking for it.

[noiretextatique]

92. i can only go by what the prosecutor and the police said

they said they found physical evidence that corroborated her story. you seem to have a problem that extends beyond this case.

[JonQ]

94. I do have issues with people making false accusations, yes

I can see why they would confess when they were innocent (for reasons I've stated before), but I see no reason for her to accurately accuse them, win, then recant later. So I'm more inclined to believe her confession than theirs because she has not motive to lie now.

[TorchTheWitch]

105. SHE hasn't recanted

Her attorney has, and there are very strange circumstances surrounding that layed out in this thread.

See Post #104 by struggle4progress...

Statements Recanting Abuse Called Into Question
Posted Thursday, October 22, 2009 ; 06:25 PM
Updated Thursday, October 22, 2009 ; 07:39 PM
Story by Gil McClanahan

... Defense Attorney Harry Deitzler .... says he believes the charges surrounding the Megan Williams torture case were built around key evidence. That includes the statements of the defendants and the supporting physical and forensic evidence found at the scene.

"They had taken pictures with a disposable camera we found at the crime scene had developed that documented a lot of this stuff. One of the defendants, Alisha Burton I believe, said she had assaulted her with a shoe, beat her with a shoe until the strap broke. We found that in the living room floor," says Brian Abraham, the former Logan County Prosecutor who prosecuted the cases.

Deitzler also points out attorneys do not have the ability to recant a charge for the clients. "Her attorney getting on camera and saying she recants isn't exactly the gold standard. She hasn't said anything yet," says Deitzler ...

"Faced with the evidence, the confessions, the consistency of the evidence, the consistency of the confessions, the chance of a person getting out based on this new statement from the attorney in Columbus, the chances is pretty darn slim," says Deitzler.
http://www.cbs59.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=68993


Even a cursory examination of the facts of this case provided just in this thread alone is plenty evidence enough to show that the defendants are in fact guilty and this non-recantation by the victim is highly suspicious. I hate it when people accuse innocents and as a result those innocents are sent to jail as much as you or anyone else, but THIS case is rather clearly not one of them.

[JonQ]

108. THat makes this line suspicious

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A black woman at the center of a West Virginia torture case that raised racial questions now says she lied about being a victim.

Hmmmm. . .

What does she, or her attorney even, have to gain by lying about having lied in the first place? That doesn't make any sense.

I think this will turn out to be another Duke case, with some people desperate to believe, in an absence of evidence, because the crime perfectly fits their preconceived prejudices.

[TorchTheWitch]

110. I see you still can't read

If you think this will turn out like the Duke case it's you who is desperate to believe even WITH a plethora of evidence it fits with your preconceived predudices.

[JonQ]

111. I see, so you know the facts better than the woman involved?

I mean, what would she know right? This isn't even really about her.

How, pray tell, did you come by this omniscience?

[TorchTheWitch]

112. You still can't read

Let me know when you've done that.

[JonQ]

113. Ok, done

now answer my question.

Why would she lie about having lied in the past? It benefits her not in the least.

And why do you feel the need to cling to the unfair characterization of these people as kidnappers/gangrapists/torturers?

People gave up on the backwards carved "B" thing pretty quick. I would suggest this get the same treatment.

[TorchTheWitch]

114. READ THE THREAD

ALL over this thread are posts and links to articles that answer your questions and show EXACTLY why these people are all guilty of what they confessed to. Read all of the articles linked to throughout the thread and inform yourself so you won't have to ask such ridiculous uninformed questions.

[JonQ]

127. I've noticed people reciting over and over again

that they must be guilty, because . . . um . . . well because. But that's a different thing entirely.

[TorchTheWitch]

149. Oh BULLSHIT

If you actually READ the stuff in here, which you obviously refuse to do because then you would have to admit those people are guilty as sin, you would already know why we've been saying they are in fact guilty. It's the people in here who are refusing to actually look into this case that are reciting over and over again that those people are innocent, and by FAR the biggest one is YOU.

I have no idea why it pains you so much to acknowledge this case is nothing whatsoever like the Duke case or the Hofstra case or any other case where the victim did actually lie and people were charged who are actually innocent. As I said before, even a CURSORY read in just this thread alone is plenty enough information that makes this case absolutely not what you are plaining wishing so hard that it is. It is no secret why you are refusing to become informed about this case and are closing your eyes to the facts available right here... you don't want to admit that your knee-jerk uninformed opinions about it are wrong, and the more you keep insisting on not acknowledge the facts given just in this thread alone shows that you're clinging to your knee-jerk opinions about it because you don't want to admit you thoroughly misjudged the case and are disappointed that you can't legitimately scorn the victim as a lying bitch who sent innocent people to jail because of your own preconceived prejudices.

As I said in my first response to you here that I despise those people who lie and send innocent people to jail JUST AS MUCH AS YOU. But THIS case is NOT one of them and there is a plethora of evidence showing that right in this thread for those who are actually interested in truth and facts. The more you go on and on refusing to acknowledge the truth and facts in this case that are right before your eyes the more you look the fool and the more you expose yourself to be desperately clinging to your prejudiced knee-jerk reactions because you simply don't WANT this case to be different from others where innocent people were charged due to a liar. And because of that henceforth people will not trust your judgment regarding any other such suspected cases because they will know you have no interest in truth or facts and have preconceived prejudiced opinions that you will cling to until your fingers are reduced to bloody stumps, and you are willing to make a complete fool of yourself.

I don't have any preconceived prejudices regarding any case. I look at the facts in each case BEFORE forming any opinions and base my opinions on the merits of each individual case which is the prudent thing to do. Sometimes my opinions have changed as more facts are revealed, and unlike you I don't have any problem admitting my opinions changed because I based those opinions on the merits of the case and not on any knee-jerk reactions or preconceived prejudices. Unlike you it matters to me that I don't make an ass of myself and have people disregard my opinions because of it. Unlike you it matters to me that when people see me post something about anything they won't automatically be thinking "oh yeah, that's the douche that can't admit they're wrong to the point of making a total fool of themselves, has no interest in the facts much like an air-headed Freeper, and bases their opinions on their own preconceived prejudices." Unfortunately for you, that's all you've managed to accomplish here.

[JonQ]

152. So I can't admit I'm wrong

because in a case where the facts originally supported the "victim" I supported the victim. Then when the facts came out in contradiction to that I changed my mind?

Sounds like you convicted these people on the basis of their skin color and the media storm (I'm sure Mr. Sharpton is quite proud of you) and then refused to admit you were wrong.

You have yet to show why a victim would recant her story after the issue was well dead and buried out of "guilt".

Like I said before, a rape case needs 2 things; a victim and a perpetrator. If you take away the victim, what do you have?

Well, this case apparently.

[Realityhack]

116. Ok.

But there is at least some doubt as to wither there actually IS a lack of evidence.
According to the claims made so far there is allegedly physical evidence and corroboration from the admissions of the accused.

It is possible that this will turn out to be an entirely false accusation. But I am not convinced that you can make that judgment with information available in the public domain at this time. *Especially* because you are seem to be prejudiced toward thinking this was a false accusation.

As for what she or her attorney gain by lying about it being made up... see the information that has been posted on her possibly being mentally handicapped and or disturbed, possibly right off the bat.

This gives every indication of being a complicated case where some important evidence may not be in the public domain. I wouldn't jump to conclusions. And I definitely would not draw comparisons to Duke based on what we know so far.

[JonQ]

125. Perhaps she is mentally handicapped

then why would her attorney (who presumably is not) likewise be retracting the case?

[Realityhack]

131. I am not sure speculating on his motive is helpful.

I think it is tangential to most of what we know. However, he may be legally bound to make the announcement (I have no idea) or more likely feel ethically bound to if she recanted to him and he has any belief in it at all.

[JonQ]

135. You used

attorney and "ethically bound" in the same sentence.

[Realityhack]

136. I should not have been supprised when you used a silly generalization.

My bad.

[JonQ]

142. Yeah, lawyers are renowned

for their ethical standards. :eyes:

[Realityhack]

143. Words have meaning. Please look up generalization.

[JonQ]

147. Right, I'll get right on that

then could you look up the incidence rate of people accusing someone of rape accurately, having them sent to jail, and then years later after the issue has dropped out of the public eye calling a press conference to say she was lying for no apparent reason.

What is your need here to see these people jailed? What does it mean to you?

The strange thing about rape is that it requires a victim, if there is no victim there is no crime.

[struggle4progress]

66. Woman Recants 2007 Tale of Kidnap and Assault (NYT)

... Brian Abraham, the former prosecutor for Logan County who handled the cases, said the seven people charged with the crimes relating to Ms. Williams’s abuse had been convicted based on physical evidence and their own corroborating statements, not on Ms. Williams’s testimony ...

Mr. Abraham said that Ms. Williams’s initial police report corresponded with the physical evidence and crime scene. “But then,” he said, “Ms. Williams began talking to the media, and her story grew and changed, and that is when we stopped relying on anything she said" ...

At the time of the alleged assaults, Ms. Williams was staying at a ramshackle trailer owned by Bobby Brewster and his mother, Frankie Brewster, in Logan County, about 50 miles from Charleston. Mr. Brewster had killed his stepfather at the trailer when he was 12, the authorities said, and served time at a juvenile facility. In July 1994, Mrs. Brewster shot and killed an 84-year-old woman she was looking after, also in the trailer, according to court records. She served six years at a state correctional facility and was paroled in 2000 ...

... in correspondence with The New York Times starting in February 2008, one of the accused .... Alisha Burton, wrote that Ms. Williams had been held captive but only after a romantic relationship with Mr. Brewster took a turn for the worse ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/us/22abuse.html?_r=1&ref=us

[struggle4progress]

96. Caretaker: Woman has changed torture story before

By MATT LEINGANG and TOM BREEN (AP)

... Valencia Daniels of Columbus said that Megan Williams "goes back and forth, back and forth" about the allegations of being beaten, raped and tortured. Williams sometimes says the story is true and other times says some of it didn't happen, Daniels said ...

The attorney, Byron L. Potts, said Wednesday ... doesn't want to move forward with the case until medical professionals determine Williams' mental state ...

... Williams was rescued after a passer-by heard cries from the shed where she was kept and an anonymous caller tipped off sheriff's deputies ...

The Associated Press has asked, via prison officials, to speak with the six. So far, Bobby Brewster has declined comment and the others have not responded ...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5idqSRBiNk7vY4jU-JyXYVNvdVXDgD9BGDSR00

[struggle4progress]

104. Statements Recanting Abuse Called Into Question

Posted Thursday, October 22, 2009 ; 06:25 PM
Updated Thursday, October 22, 2009 ; 07:39 PM
Story by Gil McClanahan

... Defense Attorney Harry Deitzler .... says he believes the charges surrounding the Megan Williams torture case were built around key evidence. That includes the statements of the defendants and the supporting physical and forensic evidence found at the scene.

"They had taken pictures with a disposable camera we found at the crime scene had developed that documented a lot of this stuff. One of the defendants, Alisha Burton I believe, said she had assaulted her with a shoe, beat her with a shoe until the strap broke. We found that in the living room floor," says Brian Abraham, the former Logan County Prosecutor who prosecuted the cases.

Deitzler also points out attorneys do not have the ability to recant a charge for the clients. "Her attorney getting on camera and saying she recants isn't exactly the gold standard. She hasn't said anything yet," says Deitzler ...

"Faced with the evidence, the confessions, the consistency of the evidence, the consistency of the confessions, the chance of a person getting out based on this new statement from the attorney in Columbus, the chances is pretty darn slim," says Deitzler.

http://www.cbs59.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=68993

[struggle4progress]

106. ... "I can't believe what she is saying now," said Brian Abraham, the former Logan County district

attorney who prosecuted the case. "What Williams initially told the told the police is substantiated by overwhelming evidence against them. They confessed to their own crimes and made statements against each other. And everything they said was further substantiated by physical and forensic evidence." None of the accused ever denied responsibility, maintained their innocence or attempted to appeal their convictions, he said. "To a person, everyone admitted it," he said ...

Torture Victim Recants Story, but Cops Believe It's Still True
Megan Williams Says Story About Torture, Rape That Sent 6 to Prison Was a Lie
By RUSSELL GOLDMAN
Oct. 23, 2009
http://abcnews.go.com/US/torture-victim-recants-story-authorities-beleive-true/story?id=8894587

[struggle4progress]

107. Megan Williams Recants Claims Of Sexual Abuse (NPR)

... Mr. GARY HARKI (Charleston Gazette): ... Essentially, basically they've all pretty much said that none of the people convicted on any of the charges were convicted on Megan's testimony. Everyone - there was physical evidence against all of these people and also their own statements. They all pled guilty and then confessed to what they did and also said what the other people that were involved did as well ...

Basically she's been living in Columbus with a woman by the name of Valencia Daniels(ph), and Daniels a couple months ago put a video up on YouTube that had Williams and her and I believe Williams' sister, Shayla(ph), and they were talking about how Williams, all these terrible things had happened to her and how she no longer had any money, and they were asking people for money in the YouTube video. That has since been taken down ...

Reverend Lloyd Hill(ph), who's a pastor here in Charleston, he was one of the first people to interview her and talk to her after she was brought out of Logan County and in the hospital.

And what he told me yesterday was that when he saw her, he thought, well, this was such a tragic situation for a young woman who basically has the mind of a child ...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114036119

[Realityhack]

115. For F***s sake wait untill we have all the facts or at least look some up.

EDIT TO ADD - This is not aimed at the OP but the entire discussion.

Sure, we see a headline like this and it tugs at our heart strings for all the people we have seen wrongfully accused and imprisoned.
But that emotional response is NOT a reasoned analysis of the evidence.

We can be just as easily manipulated by a headline or badly written article into thinking that a person is recanting before trial because of intimidation. That doesn't make that headline true either.

In this case we have references to:
Admissions of guilt (no specifics on how they were obtained or the contents there of)
The possibility that the woman is mentally unstable and or handicapped and has been from day 1.
A prosecutor that is pointing to 'physical evidence' (I have no idea of the details of said evidence, and admittedly their is a vested interest for the prosecutor)
Allegations by someone here that at least one of the suspects may still claim guilt.
At least one suspect with a history of violence.
probably some other stuff I have missed.

Obviously any time someone recants like this it should be carefully investigated. And it sounds like that is happening. But given the conflicting stories I don't think it is appropriate to either jump on her as a horrible person for making things up (same for the prosecutor) or dismiss her lawyer recanting for her as nothing without understanding a LOT more about the case.
Given the plea bargain it is entirely possible that this would include knowing information that is NOT part of the public record.

I encourage exploring the case. But some people need to chill the heck out with the automatic presumptions (in both directions) of guilt.

[struggle4progress]

121. ... Each of the seven suspects were put in separate rooms by police and questioned independently.

Each of the seven suspects were put in separate rooms by police and questioned independently. "They were all interviewed separately. None knew what any of the others were saying. And all their evidence went along with exactly with what the others were saying," said Logan County Sheriff Eddie Hunter ...

'Torture Victim' Recants Her Story: But Cops Still Think It's True
By RUSSELL GOLDMAN
http://a.abcnews.com/m/screen?id=8894587&pid=4380645

[Realityhack]

124. Struggle, Thank you.

Thank you so much for your efforts on this thread to expose the facts of the case and keep the debate informed and rational rather than ignorant reactionary blathering.
I admit I honestly have not had a chance yet to read all of the links you have posted, perhapses not even all the summaries, but I truly appreciate what you are doing for the discussion and our DU community.

Thank You
:fistbump:

[struggle4progress]

130. The reality-based community wants facts first and analysis second. eom

[Realityhack]

133. Too bad that reality based community is so small

Edit to add... and doesn't seem to include many journalists.

[WriteDown]

128. I can see it now....

"Jimmy sung like a bird for us. He rolled on you and named you the mastermind....."

[Realityhack]

132. Riiiiiiiiight

No shit they probably used those kinds of techniques. But it neither makes them bad or good interpretations or admissions of guilt.
If the response was 'no way man...' followed by a detailed confession, and those details matched up with what the other 6 people said. Then you have a very solid set of admissions.
If they said that and followed with a bunch of details and the suspects said sure those details are right but I wasn't the mastermind or large amounts of information didn't match up then you have weaker or useless confessions.

Not having read a transcript of the confessions, the interrogations, etc. I do not see how you could possibly determine which happened.

Unless of course you are blatantly prejudiced against the police and think they could never possibly get anything right...
oh...
wait...
never mind.

[struggle4progress]

134. That's been known to happen -- and too frequently. Most of us here, I expect, are

staunch supporters of the civil rights of the accused. I have no special insight into this case but can only piece together bits of the story from internet news accounts. This is what I think can be documented:

Police were familiar with the Brewster residence. Bobby Brewster had killed his father there when a juvenile and had served juvenile time for it. His mother, several years later, killed her 84 year old mother in law there and served time for it. There was a third murder on their property in 2005 and a nonfatal slashing there earlier in 2007

Responding to tips, police rescued Megan Williams from the Brewster trailer twice within a month in 2007. Both times, a Brewster told police that Megan Williams was not there. Both times, police found her there. The first time, Bobby Brewster was arrested for domestic battery on her person; he was out on bail at the time of the second incident. In the second incident, Megan Williams approached police saying "Help me." Her face was battered, she had several stab wounds, and some of her hair had been pulled out. Frankie Brewster admitted confining the woman against her will and beating her. Megan Williams spent time in the hospital recovering from her injuries.

Megan Williams graduated high school but had taken special education classes there. A number of people have described her as a sweet but somewhat slow person who can be manipulated. From the beginning, her descriptions of events changed unreliably with time, and prosecutors regarded her unsuitable as a witness. On the other hand, they found a disposable camera which, when the film was developed, documented some of the abuse. Bobby Brewster apparently gave a complete statement. The various other accused mutually and consistently accused each other. All pleaded guilty in plea bargains. To date, apparently none have claimed they were railroaded

[struggle4progress]

122. ... At the time, Williams' mother described the woman as "slow." Abraham called her "a special

education-type student" ...
'Torture Victim' Recants Her Story: But Cops Still Think It's True
By RUSSELL GOLDMAN
http://a.abcnews.com/m/screen?id=8894587&pid=4380645

... Williams' parents admitted in September 2007 that she had a learning disability and took some special education classes at Capital High School ...
December 7, 2008
Prosecutor looks back on Williams case
By Gary A. Harki
http://www.sundaygazettemail.com/News/200812060490

[struggle4progress]

123. ... "They had taken pictures with a disposable camera we found at the crime scene had developed that

documented a lot of this stuff. One of the defendants, Alisha Burton I believe, said she had assaulted her with a shoe, beat her with a shoe until the strap broke. We found that in the living room floor," says Brian Abraham, the former Logan County Prosecutor who prosecuted the cases ...

Statements Recanting Abuse Called Into Question
Posted Thursday, October 22, 2009 ; 06:25 PM
Updated Thursday, October 22, 2009 ; 07:39 PM
Story by Gil McClanahan
http://www.cbs59.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=68993

[struggle4progress]

126. ... “Upon the deputies’ arrival, they found Mrs. Frankie Brewster sitting on the front porch,”

The deputies asked Mrs. Brewster if anyone else was at the residence and she said she was alone. As she was talking, the police documents say, Mrs. Brewster got up and stepped toward the door, when a woman inside the residence limped toward the door with her arms held out and said, “Help me.” The woman’s eyes were bruised and she had four large stab wounds on her left leg, the police said. Police documents say Mrs. Brewster admitted to holding the victim at the trailer against her will and beating her ...
Woman, 20, Was Imprisoned and Tortured, Police Say
By CHRIS STRATTON and IAN URBINA
Published: September 12, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/us/12captive.html?_r=1

... in correspondence with The New York Times starting in February 2008, one of the accused .... Alisha Burton, wrote that Ms. Williams had been held captive but only after a romantic relationship with Mr. Brewster took a turn for the worse ...
Woman Recants 2007 Tale of Kidnap and Assault
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/us/22abuse.html?_r=1&ref=us

All of the suspects pleaded guilty; to my knowledge, none have since appealed

[struggle4progress]

129. ... Mr. Brewster killed his stepfather there when he was 12 ... In July 1994, Mrs. Brewster shot and

killed an 84-year-old woman she was looking after, also in the trailer ... In 2005, two men got into a fight outside the trailer, ... ending with a fatal stabbing. In January, the police were again called to the trailer, where they found a man who had been slashed across his abdomen; the man survived ...

Woman, 20, Was Imprisoned and Tortured, Police Say
By CHRIS STRATTON and IAN URBINA
Published: September 12, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/us/12captive.html?_r=2

[JonQ]

153. I don't think anyone claimed they were saints

but you can't convict someone for a crime based on their past actions unrelated to that crime.

Hmm, what if we'd pointed out all the times this woman had lied in the past, or paraded all her sexual partners from the past 5 years through the courtroom during the initial trial as evidence of her damning history. I think a few people would have issues with that tact.

[struggle4progress]

159. Realityhack's #115 raised five issues, for which I provided links in #121, 122, 123, 126, & 129

The issues were the followed, and I provided relevant links in order:

Admissions of guilt (see my #121; note also all subjects pleaded guilty)
The woman's mental handicap (see my #122; note also my #158 upthread)
Physical evidence (see my #123; note also the woman spent time in hospital)
Continuing admissions of guilt (see my #126; note also my #146, on Frankie Brewster's recent interview)
Suspects with a history of violence (see my #129)

You do, of course, quite correctly observe that no one ever correctly claimed the suspects were saints -- but fail to observe that "failing at sainthood" was not the actual charge leveled against any of them

[struggle4progress]

146. Convicted Woman Says W. Va. Woman was Tortured

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4117171

[ecstatic]

137. This thread brought out some of the worst of DU

I'm disgusted at some people who are so eager to compare this to Duke or Tawana Brawley. Reading this must have made you happy and so you threw out all the rest of the story and asked no questions--like why 7 different people were questioned separately and confessed to the same thing, or why there was so much physical evidence found. I guess it never occurred to you that she might be facing death threats daily--threats to herself and her family. But carry on and be merry. Your reaction is neither new nor surprising.

[CoffinEd]

145. And don't forget uncle Al...

Sharpton, that is. You know, all the usual suspects.

And, like you, I found it interesting how some people in this thread jumped at the opportunity to mention Brawley and the Duke woman, but made no mention of the women/men, such as Chuckie Stuart and Sue Smith, who pointed the accusatory finger at the 'big black buck boogie man' hiding in the shadows.

For a while, I thought I was reading the Comments section of the NY Post website. I think I'll go "right" a book now.

[JonQ]

155. You're right

why didn't people take the opportunity to blame all white people for this crime?

I mean it's not like duke or brawely had anything to do with a national news story about a black woman falsely accusing white men of raping her in a highly charged case that involved al sharpton and the rest.

Why would people even think to compare the three? Clearly this is most like all those national news stories of a white woman falsely accusing black men of gangraping her in a highly charged case that involved al sharpton and the rest. You know, the case of . . . and . . . .

[TorchTheWitch]

150. It certainly has

And I'm disgusted as well. I cannot understand why some DUers are so damn knee-jerk and refuse to actually look into something before spouting off. Damn, some people that posted here aren't even aware that half of the defendants are women and sneered at the people who actually know about the case or at least bothered to look into it!

UGH.

[JonQ]

154. I'm curious

how people would have responded (or did, I wasn't around) for those two cases?

Damning physical evidence, an air tight accusation. The people involved are clearly guilty. And then when the facts came out in contradiction those same people would still be condemning the victims.

Yep, that would have brought out the worst in people.

[democracy1st]

163. +1

[Realityhack]

138. I just watched some CNN coverage of this...

while waiting for my sub on lunch.
The 'consultant' or whatever she was seemed like she was desperately trying to point out the evidence and complex issues that could be at play.
Unfortunately, the "reporter" was about as good at journalism as a dead fish and displayed all the intelligence (and emotional maturity) of Bill O.

I am SOOOO glad I don't pay for cable. I would hate to support CNN. What a bunch of rubbish. An average 10 year old could have asked more intelligent questions and done it in a more rational manner.

[TorchTheWitch]

164. Attorney who announced recanting believes Megan needs mental evaluation

Potts said he plans to see that Williams has a mental evaluation; otherwise, he won't remain involved in the case. "The way she reacted to what's going on, I have some concerns about her competence," he said.

Daniels agrees that Williams needs a mental evaluation. She said Williams cut her hair off a week ago, in an attempt to look as she looked shortly after she was found in Logan County.

http://wvgazette.com/News/200910221024

*Note: Valencia Daniels has been Megan's caretaker since Megan's mother died last June.

Potts is not familiar with this case as he was only hired recently. He called Al Sharpton the day before the press conference believing that Sharpton was her attorney in the case when all he did was attend a rally in her support. Sharpton told Potts that's all he had to do with the case, and that if Megan was lying and wanted to recant then he should go public... and the next day was the press conference. It seems clear to me that Potts did not look into the case at all, believed Megan was in her right mind and was legitimately recanting and is finding out now after his big announcement that Megan is is not competent and there was a lot of evidence that makes her recanting story untrue.

It appears to me that this caretaker, Valencia Daniels, has taken the place of Megan's mother as manipulator-for-money as she has been trolling for donations for over a year. This could well be a stunt manufactured by Daniels as a way to get the story back in the news in order to get donations since once the case was over and dropped off the radar donations dropped drastically.



Edit: italics