Charleston Daily Mail
Posted on 09/12/2007 6:22:00 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
BIG CREEK, W.Va. - Authorities decided Wednesday not to pursue hate crime charges in the kidnapping and weeklong torture of a black woman, instead going after the suspects, who are white, on state charges that carry stiffer penalties.
While federal civil rights or state hate crime charges remain an option, a state kidnapping count that carries a sentence of up to life in prison will provide the best chance for successful prosecution, officials said.
"As a practical matter, sentenced to life, what else can be done?" U.S. Attorney Charles T. Miller told The Associated Press.
Six people face charges, including kidnapping, sexual assault and lying to police in the torture of Megan Williams, 20, at a remote hillside home in Big Creek.
State hate crime charges, which carry a sentence of 10 years, could come later, prosecutor Brian Abraham said. State sexual assault charges carry a penalty up to 35 years in prison.
The woman's captors forced her to eat rat droppings, choked her with a cable cord and stabbed her in the leg while calling her a racial slur, according to criminal complaints. They also poured hot water over her, made her drink from a toilet, and beat and sexually assaulted her during a span of about a week, the documents say.
Williams was not a random target, prosecutor Brian Abraham said Wednesday. She had a "social relationship" with one of the suspects, he said.
The Associated Press generally does not identify suspected victims of sexual assault, but Williams and her mother, Carmen Williams, agreed to release her name. Carmen Williams said she wanted people to know what her daughter had endured.
At one point, a suspect cut the woman's ankle with a knife and used the N-word in telling her she was victimized because she is black, according to the complaints.
It wasn't until an anonymous tip led Logan County sheriff's deputies to the property on Saturday that her ordeal ended, authorities said. She limped toward the deputies, her arms outstretched as she cried, "Help me," officials said.
Williams remained hospitalized Wednesday in Charleston. The hospital declined to release any information about her condition.
The victim had a previous relationship with Bobby Brewster, one of the six in custody, Abraham said. He was charged in July with domestic battery and assault after a domestic dispute involving the same woman.
"She obviously had some sort of social relationship," Abraham said. "That is based on the fact that she was present at his residence on a prior date."
The suspects have arrest records going back several years, according to records from Logan County Magistrate Court, and Abraham said was he familiar with all of them.
"Most of the charges are minor things," Abraham said. "Basically on weekends they get in trouble and by the middle of the week they make up with each other."
Since 1991, police have filed 108 criminal charges against the six.
Brewster's mother, Frankie Brewster, 49, faced the most serious charges among them. She was charged in 1994 with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter and wanton endangerment. She was released from prison in 2000 after serving five years in the death of an 84-year-old woman, court records show.
In Williams' case, Frankie Brewster is charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and giving false information during a felony investigation.
Bobby Brewster, 24, also of Big Creek, is charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and assault during the commission of a felony.
In March, Brewster was accused in criminal complaints of attacking his mother with a machete at her home, according to court records. The outcome of those charges — domestic assault, brandishing a deadly weapon and obstructing an officer — was not immediately clear.
Danny J. Combs, 20, of Harts, is charged with sexual assault and malicious wounding. Karen Burton, 46, of Chapmanville, was charged with malicious wounding, battery and assault during the commission of a felony.
Burton's daughter, Alisha Burton, 23, and George A. Messer, 27, both of Chapmanville, are charged with assault during the commission of a felony and battery. She previously faced charges of assault during the commission of a felony and battery; in May, she was accused of striking Messer with a shovel and smashing the window of a woman's car. The charges are pending.
All six remained in custody Wednesday in lieu of $100,000 cash bail each. Bobby Brewster is scheduled to appear before a Logan County Circuit Court judge on Monday to be arraigned on the kidnapping charge, according to court records. A date for his mother's appearance on the kidnapping charge has not yet been set.
Public defender Dwyane Adkins, appointed to represent Bobby Brewster, and public defender Betty Gregory, appointed to represent Karen Burton, declined to comment. The other defendants' court-appointed lawyers were either in hearings or did not immediately return telephone calls Wednesday.
Neighbors of Megan Williams in Charleston recalled her as sweet-natured but said her family members kept largely to themselves.
"They were isolated, in a way," said the Rev. Norman Jones of the Greater Emmanuel Gospel Tabernacle, which Carmen Williams attended. "Carmen was very protective of Megan, so it was hard to know her well."
Find an abandoned coal mine and bury these subhumans alive in it.
The entire idea of a “hate” crime is ridiculous. Is a stabbing carried out because of racial or religious animosity worse than one that is carried out just for the hell of it?
Uhhh.
This is one of the most disgusting crimes I’ve heard of in recent times. Hopefully, they’ll never see freedom again and their families disown them.
They don’t deserve to be walking the face of the earth. Just do away with these scumbags lower the sewer scum now.
Just a wholesome American family that everyone would like to have living next door. </s>
Wow, what a group. They keep the local Public Defenders, DA and law enforcement busy, just with their little circle of friends.
This is utter insanity. I am reading that there had been two murders at this *&^%&&* place prior to this, as well as multiple stabbings. These scumbags should have been locked down years ago.
I’d call them gerbil-brained psychopathic racist-sadists, but perhaps Senator Byrd has another name for them.
“scumbags”
Now you have done it, created yet another group of a protect class.
There are a lot of scumbags in America and they need representing too.
“Since 1991, police have filed 108 criminal charges against the six.”
Kinda time to lock these people away for life plus 400 years isn’t it Mr. U.S. Deputy Dog/Attorney ?
Are these some of KKK Birds relatives???
One of the worst suspects, (a female) own son was raping this poor woman.
Prayers that she will be able to recover from that nightmare.
Brewster's mother, Frankie Brewster, 49, faced the most serious charges among them. She was charged in 1994 with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter and wanton endangerment. She was released from prison in 2000 after serving five years in the death of an 84-year-old woman, court records show.In Williams' case, Frankie Brewster is charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and giving false information during a felony investigation.
Bobby Brewster, 24, also of Big Creek, is charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and assault during the commission of a felony
Talk about a "redneck mother, who has raised her son so well"...
Charleston Gazette
Torture victim may have visited before
Neighbor on Big Creek says woman asked for help last month
http://www.wvgazette.com/section/News/2007091122
Charleston Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.com/section/News
—
Prosecutor says Logan County torture victim knew suspect
Official says police arrested and charged Bobby Brewster in July in a domestic dispute involving the victim
http://www.dailymail.com/story/News/2007091275/Prosecutor-says-Logan-County-torture-victim-knew-suspect/
—
Mother says Logan abuse victim didn’t know her alleged tormentors
Her account conflicts with stories from neighbors and investigating officials
http://www.dailymail.com/story/News/2007091271/Mother-says-Logan-abuse-victim-didnt-know-her-alleged-tormentors/
lock them in a cage with those creatures that killed those kids in Tennessee and charge admission
You know what, I'll be better of not speculating on the motives of these animals.
Yes, it is, if the intent of the crime is not aimed at specifically one person, but at a broader group of people such as a race, nationality, or religion with the intent to discourage these people from exercising their basic civil, social, or economic rights. I know that’s a nitpicking definition, but there are people who have done that in the past, such as killing persons attempting to register black voters in the South.
The problem is not that there is a definition of hate crime, but it gets thrown out as a threat against people who merely express their distaste at the activities of other groups. (You don’t like lutefisk? That’s a hate crime against Lutherans!) (You don’t like same sex marriage? You are expressing a hate crime!)
The purpose of hate crime legislation should not be not to chill lawful and Constitutionally protected activity; it is to punish acts that, though committed against one person, are aimed at that class of persons. Secondly, it is to punish activities that the nation as a whole finds repugnant, but are not punished due to jury nullification.
The problem is to get the rabble-rousers to quit using it as a tool of guilt or blackmail. Level-headed prosecutors and jurists can do that; so can level-headed Freepers.
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