WVA woman lied about torture case

[Spectre]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/22/wva-woman-torture-case-now-says-she-lied/

W.Va. woman in torture case now says she lied
By Matt Leingang and Tom Green ASSOCIATED PRESS

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- When a black woman told West Virginia authorities in 2007 that seven white people had raped and tortured her over several days in a racially motivated attack, minority rights groups rallied to her support.

The Rev. Al Sharpton and Black Lawyers for Justice urged prosecutors to pursue hate-crime charges. The lawyers organized a march on Megan Williams' behalf. Sharpton addressed a rally in Charleston and donated $1,000 to Williams' family as a Christmas gift.

More than two years later, Williams, now 22 and living in Columbus, recanted her story on Wednesday, and the groups that supported her stood at arm's length from the woman whose mother had described her as "slow."

Sharpton has asked a prosecutor to vindicate anyone wrongfully convicted.

The head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Logan and Boone counties in West Virginia said the group didn't rush to judgment two years ago, and won't now.

"We did have some concerns about what was being done at the time and how it was carried out by Megan and the family, because of her mental condition," said the Rev. Audie Murphy, president of the group.

Williams had said her captors, including boyfriend Bobby Brewster, beat her, raped her, forced her to drink urine and eat feces, poured hot wax on her and taunted her with racial slurs in the trailer of Brewster's mother in a rural area of Logan County, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Charleston, W.Va. Williams was rescued after a passer-by heard cries from the shed where she was kept and an anonymous caller alerted authorities.

The suspects all confessed to their actions and pleaded guilty. All but one were sent to prison.

But Williams made up the story because she wanted to get revenge against a boyfriend who had beaten her, said her attorney, Byron L. Potts. She recanted because she no longer wants to live a lie, he said.

Potts said Williams has received several anonymous phone calls from people threatening her life.

[LouC]

I am not jumping on the "she is telling the truth now" bandwagon.

7 people plead guilty but now the victim alleges there was no crime?

[BillBrown]

Strange case.
Why did they plead guilty?
It sounds more like the woman was bought off.

[Buffalo]

I am not jumping on the "she is telling the truth now" bandwagon.

7 people plead guilty but now the victim alleges there was no crime?
yeah, this is one weird story. Not sure what the hell is up now.

[Vaard]

not only plead guilty, but confessed to the crime......

and what was she doing in the shed that the anonymous passerby heard her crying in?

very strange story all around.......

[BillBrown]

not only plead guilty, but confessed to the crime......

and what was she doing in the shed that the anonymous passerby heard her crying in?

very strange story all around.......

I guess it's possible that a lazy lawyer talked them into falsely admitting it.
He could have told them they would be convicted and if they pled guilty they would get less time.
If they had a public defender, that is very possible.

[Vaard]

I guess it's possible that a lazy lawyer talked them into falsely admitting it.
He could have told them they would be convicted and if they plead guilty they would get less time.
If they had a public defender, that is very possible.

an article with more deatil....

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/10/22/crimesider/entry5409420.shtml

But William's new admission has only caused more controversy. Prosecutors say they don't believe her and based their case on the confessions of the alleged attackers. And others are concerned that Williams may have been pressured by phone calls threatening her life.


Brian Abraham, the former Logan County prosecutor who pursued the cases, said authorities realized early in the investigation that they could not rely on statements from Williams, who tended to embellish and exaggerate details. Instead, he said, the seven defendants were convicted on their own statements and physical evidence.



and on the other hand.....

In a January interview with The Call & Post, a black newspaper in Cleveland, Williams acknowledged she had been mistreated but said her mother made her embellish the story for exposure and financial gain. Williams told the newspaper that she was afraid of her mother, who knew some of the defendants.

Williams' mother, Carmen Williams, died in June. Potts said he did not know what role the mother might have had in fabricating the case.




very strange story......


also, this story refers to "lawyers" (plural) for the defendants, so i doubt it was all public defendant lawyers, or that all of them would tell them to confess.....


i wonder if the defendants were tried separately......

[bella-day]

It's just an impression I got reading the article...I got the feeling that the victim has some learning problems and could most likely be swayed in a variety of directions.

She could be reacting to threats.

I'm with Lou on this one. I'm not jumping on the she lied bandwagon.

It just doesn't make sense that she lied so all seven of the peeps confessed.

[Vaard]

It's just an impression I got reading the article...I got the feeling that the victim has some learning problems and could most likely be swayed in a variety of directions.

She could be reacting to threats.

I'm with Lou on this one. I'm not jumping on the she lied bandwagon.

It just doesn't make sense that she lied so all seven of the peeps confessed.

she is mentally handicapped........

[RTchoke]

It's just an impression I got reading the article...I got the feeling that the victim has some learning problems and could most likely be swayed in a variety of directions.

She could be reacting to threats.

I'm with Lou on this one. I'm not jumping on the she lied bandwagon.

It just doesn't make sense that she lied so all seven of the peeps confessed.

I'm not going there either, but it may be possible what she is recanting on is the degree of the abuse. Maybe it was the embellishment that is the crux of this, not that something didn't happen.

Just a thought.

[Vaard]

I'm not going there either, but it may be possible what she is recanting on is the degree of the abuse. Maybe it was the embellishment that is the crux of this, not that something didn't happen.

Just a thought.

Now more than two years later, Williams says it was all a lie designed to exact revenge against her boyfriend, who was one of the accused attackers.


but again, she has mental health issues, the prosecuters said that they had physical evidence and the attackers confessed and plead guilty........

[bella-day]

I'm not going there either, but it may be possible what she is recanting on is the degree of the abuse. Maybe it was the embellishment that is the crux of this, not that something didn't happen.

Just a thought.

Or it could be the same thing that many abused significant others/spouses claim after the fact...well...the abuse really wasn't THAT bad.

[RTchoke]

Now more than two years later, Williams says it was all a lie designed to exact revenge against her boyfriend, who was one of the accused attackers.


but again, she has mental health issues, the prosecuters said that they had physical evidence and the attackers confessed and plead guilty........

I'm fully aware of that. See, I went back and read some of the articles from 2007 on this. It was quite obvious something happened. What that is, is gonna be cloudy based on her capacity. It's going to be limited to the physical evidence. Maybe in her mind she feels she embellished things or possibly her mother did have her embellish things. That doesn't change the fact that something did happen Even during the actual timeframe of this there was confusion about what was true and what wasn't and what could be proven.

That is why I am taking what she is saying now with a grain of salt.

[RTchoke]

Or it could be the same thing that many abused significant others/spouses claim after the fact...well...the abuse really wasn't THAT bad.

I think she just doesn't have the capability to make totally factual determinations about what happened.

As far as claiming the abuse wasn't that bad ..................coming out of my first marriage to a drunken abusive SOB who no doubt would have eventually killed me if I stayed ............I know EXACTLY how bad it really was.

[traditional_woman]

I remember this story. They showed her today walking down the hall backwards and needing assistance. So ALL the perps were white, including her bf? Maybe the screams the person heard were only of her bf beating her. Rarely do a group of accused plead guilty, EVEN if they are. Strange. So will they be released?

[BillBrown]

The girl is a liar, anyway you slice it or dice it.

She either lied initially or she's lying now.
I would give her words no credence.

I think the boy's confessions should trump anything she says.

[Vaard]

I'm fully aware of that. See, I went back and read some of the articles from 2007 on this. It was quite obvious something happened. What that is, is gonna be cloudy based on her capacity. It's going to be limited to the physical evidence. Maybe in her mind she feels she embellished things or possibly her mother did have her embellish things. That doesn't change the fact that something did happen Even during the actual timeframe of this there was confusion about what was true and what wasn't and what could be proven.

That is why I am taking what she is saying now with a grain of salt.

yeah, the prosecuters took what she said with a grain of salt back then as well as now......


i dont think she is changing her story out of any nefarious motive... i think she is just handicapped and isnt able to think "correctly".....


she could be fully convinced now that nothing happened then because she may not understand or be able to process that far back........

[Vaard]

The girl is a liar, anyway you slice it or dice it.

She either lied initially or she's lying now.
I would give her words no credence.

I think the boy's confessions should trump anything she says.

well, i dont think she is doing it out of any willful motive......


i think it more has to do with her being mentally handicapped than anything.....

[RTchoke]

yeah, the prosecuters took what she said with a grain of salt back then as well as now......


i dont think she is changing her story out of any nefarious motive... i think she is just handicapped and isnt able to think "correctly".....


she could be fully convinced now that nothing happened then because she may not understand or be able to process that far back........

that is my thought also. If I didn't make that clear enough before, I apologize. I don't think she has the ability to be 100% factual in her recollections or accounts therefore anything in this case needs to be based on physical evidence and accounts given by the accused.

[BillBrown]

well, i dont think she is doing it out of any willful motive......


i think it more has to do with her being mentally handicapped than anything.....

You may be right, but sexual torture doesn't sound like something a child like mind would invent. If she fabricated such a story, she is probably smarter than we think she is.

[Vaard]

You may be right, but sexual torture doesn't sound like something a child like mind would invent. If she fabricated such a story, she is probably smarter than we think she is.

well, prosecuters said there was physical evidence as well as the confessions, so i doubt she was making it up.......

[traditional_woman]

If they did a rape kit that evidence should pretty much seal the deal.

[BillBrown]

If they did a rape kit that evidence should pretty much seal the deal.

Not if there was consensual sex.

[Samm]

not only plead guilty, but confessed to the crime......

and what was she doing in the shed that the anonymous passerby heard her crying in?

very strange story all around.......

When you plead guilty to a crime, the Judge requires you to confess to the crime or he will not accept the plea.

That said, if this girl is as wacko as it appears, chances are she has forgotten what occurred and now has "manufactured" a new story. There was considerable corroborating evidence to support the basic gist of her original story.

[uncledoom]

The jaw dropping item from the entire story.....

Sharpton has asked a prosecutor to vindicate anyone wrongfully convicted.

[RogerDodger]

It sounds more like the woman was bought off.

Based on what I remember of this case, these didn't seem like the type of people with the means to "buy someone off."

Still, I don't think all would have plead guilty based on a false accusation. I also assume there must have been some physical evidence to support the charges being brought in the first place.

[BillBrown]

The jaw dropping item from the entire story.....

Lets hope any prosecutor would do that without being told to by Sharpton.

[BillBrown]

Based on what I remember of this case, these didn't seem like the type of people with the means to "buy someone off."

Still, I don't think all would have plead guilty based on a false accusation. I also assume there must have been some physical evidence to support the charges being brought in the first place.

The woman might be in the same category.
A bottle of Mad Dog and a hamburger, might have done the job.

[Gabby]

From what I've gathered, she now says that she did have a fight with Bobby Brewster, her boyfriend. That the bruises on her face were from that.

She was angry at him so she inflicted the rest of the injuries on her herself. She than made up lies about being forced to lick up blood, eat rat and dog feces, bring held hostage and being called racial slurs, etc.

Now why would the 8 people confess to something they did not do?

Bobby Brewster beat her up leaving some bad bruises on her face. He definitely needs to do some time for the assault and battery on her.
Why would the rest of them confess to something they did not do? Take a look at them. The entire bunch look like poster children for warning against inbreeding. I doubt there are more than few working brain cells between the enter bunch. These are back hill billies. It would probably be easy for the cops, court appointed attorneys, etc to plant ideas in their heads and get them to do anything.
I’m not suggesting that nothing happened. From the latest development I think that the true is closer to what she is saying now than what she claimed two years ago.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/williams.asp

This really ****es me off. 1) it makes it worse for every women who really does suffer rape, abuse, kidnappings 2) It makes it harder for people to believe a black person when they have real racists thing happen to them.
Despite her mental state, she knows right from wrong and so should pay some price for her lies.

[JediMindTrick]

Not if there was consensual sex.

A rape exam can differentiate between consensual and forcible sex. Your a guy I assume so imagine your having sex with a roll of sandpaper and the damage that would do to you. Now compare to normal sex. Thats the kind of difference you see between forcible and consensual sex.

[Panhead0422]

Quote: uncledoom
The jaw dropping item from the entire story.....


Quote:
Sharpton has asked a prosecutor to vindicate anyone wrongfully convicted.

Make a copy of that and mark your calendar as a "red letter day". That is probably the first and only time he has made a statement like that about one of his race whoring exploits. He seems to forget his bigotry when it becomes embarrassing to himself.

[Vaard]

When you plead guilty to a crime, the Judge requires you to confess to the crime or he will not accept the plea.

That said, if this girl is as wacko as it appears, chances are she has forgotten what occurred and now has "manufactured" a new story. There was considerable corroborating evidence to support the basic gist of her original story.

sorry... i was under the impression they confessed bfore appearing before the judge......

[Dr. Funkenstein]

You may be right, but sexual torture doesn't sound like something a child like mind would invent. If she fabricated such a story, she is probably smarter than we think she is.
A child-like mind can invent anything.

Which is why the prosecution didn't rely on her testimony, rather the confessions of the defendants.

[Dr. Funkenstein]

The jaw dropping item from the entire story.....
That was the first thing I noticed...

[BillBrown]

A rape exam can differentiate between consensual and forcible sex. Your a guy I assume so imagine your having sex with a roll of sandpaper and the damage that would do to you. Now compare to normal sex. Thats the kind of difference you see between forcible and consensual sex.

I understand what you're saying, but couldn't vaginal abrasions be present in some cases of consensual sex and not be present in some cases of rape?

[gdoane]

When you plead guilty to a crime, the Judge requires you to confess to the crime or he will not accept the plea.

I think Obama's appointment of Judge Sotomayor proves beyond any doubt that liberals don't care about any measure of professionalism on the bench and count the colors of noses instead.

That said, if this girl is as wacko as it appears, chances are she has forgotten what occurred and now has "manufactured" a new story. There was considerable corroborating evidence to support the basic gist of her original story.

Birds of a feather. The kinds of guys who hang out with girls like her aren't going to be the brightest bulbs on the porch themselves.

It ain't a pretty thing to say, but I think there has been a lack of average intelligence all around.