Hate Crime Charge In W.Va. Torture Case

One Of Whites Accused In Torture And Sexual Assault Of Black Woman Faces Hate Charge

(CBS/AP)  One of several white people charged in the suspected kidnapping, torture and sexual assault of a black woman has been indicted on a hate crime count, and two others have entered guilty pleas in the case.

Six people arrested after Megan Williams was rescued in September had been charged with counts that carry maximum life sentences, but until Tuesday's indictments no one had been charged with a hate crime. The issue has been a sore point among many of Williams' supporters.

Karen Burton, 46, of Chapmanville, was indicted Tuesday on charges of committing a hate crime, kidnapping and malicious wounding. Three others were indicted on counts including kidnapping, sexual assault and conspiracy.

Prosecutors say each defendant was indicted separately, because each allegedly committed different crimes, reports CBS affiliate WOWK-TV.

Prosecutors say Williams, 20, was held captive for days at a trailer in Big Creek, where she was forced to eat animal feces, sexually assaulted and stabbed. She was rescued Sept. 8 after an anonymous caller alerted Logan County sheriff's deputies.

Logan County prosecutor Brian Abraham said Burton stabbed Williams in the ankle while saying, "This is what we do to n------ down here."

Karen Burton was "a little surprised" by the hate crime charge but was relieved that an earlier sexual assault count was not included in the indictment, said her attorney, Betty Gregory.

"She didn't want her children to think anything like that about her," Gregory said.

While noting that Burton has two biracial grandchildren in North Carolina whom "she dearly loves," Gregory said part of Burton's defense will be that she "has a significant history of child abuse from her own childhood."

Two other defendants - Burton's daughter, 23-year-old Alisha Burton, and 27-year-old George A. Messer - each pleaded guilty Friday and have agreed to testify against the others.

Messer and Alisha Burton, both of Chapmanville, were each sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 10 years for kidnapping and two to 10 years for assault during the commission of a felony, Abraham said. Williams and her family were consulted before plea deals were offered, he said.

The state hate crime count against Karen Burton is the first one legal scholars can remember being prosecuted in West Virginia.

"This one particular charge in this one particular case is winnable, and you can send the message that this type of behavior is not going to be tolerated," said West Virginia University sociology professor Jim Nolan, who teaches a course on hate crimes.

The Rev. Al Sharpton and groups including Washington, D.C.-based Black Lawyers for Justice had pushed for hate-crime charges. Sharpton, who led a hate crimes rally in Charleston in December, said Wednesday that it was good one such charge was filed but added that there should have been more.

"They all engaged in hate crimes because they aided and abetted a hate crime," Sharpton said.

Abraham said other defendants used the same slur Karen Burton did, but the fact that Burton used it while stabbing Williams made her act more clearly a hate crime.

"The distinction was that we think that there was an affirmative statement as to Karen Burton's motivation when she allegedly said that to Megan Williams," Abraham said.

Abraham previously had refrained from filing hate-crime charges, saying they would be difficult because there was a pre-existing relationship. Williams filed domestic assault charges against one of the defendants, Bobby Brewster, in July.

Abraham also had noted that the 10-year maximum prison sentence for a hate crime conviction was low compared with the life term a kidnapping conviction could bring.

Indicted on felony counts with Karen Burton and Brewster were Danny Combs and Brewster's mother, Frankie Brewster. Another man not previously arrested was indicted Tuesday on a misdemeanor battery charge.

The defendants have denied the charges. Aside from Gregory, their lawyers did not immediately return phone calls on Wednesday.

The Associated Press generally does not identify suspected victims of sexual assault, but Williams and her mother, Carmen, agreed to release her name. Carmen Williams has said she wanted people to know what her daughter endured.

Megan Williams has taped a segment of Montel Williams' talk show that is to be broadcast Thursday.

[oeangus]

W.Va. was were that there Christian preacher slash Republican presidential candidate got all his votes last night, weren''t it? Thems sure do sound like God-fearin'' folk.

[byeneocons]

Throw the book at them, lock ''em up for life, and let''s all wish good thoughts for this poor woman and her family.

[kennergirl]

Yeah they''re all praying that God won''t catch up with them.

[denn034]

Horrendous.

[denn034]

What those men did to that woman was horrendous. Here''s hoping she gets justice.

[feddupp]

How SAD that someone would judge a WHOLE STATE by just a few morons'' actions!
Don''t you REALIZE there are good AND bad in every state, color, nationality and creed!??!!?

[sgtrds]

Nail the bas*tards. I''m also glad there''s a hate crime attachment. The chimp wouldn''t support hate crime legislation in Texas because he said all crimes are hate crimes. What a steaming pile of cr*ap THAT is!

[excoachken]

This is an awful crime and if proven guilty, these people deserve stiff punishment, but can anyone tell me what physical crime does not involve hate? To give more severe punishment because of a physical characteristic of the victim is not just wrong, it is a bizarre inverted bigotry! We all deserve the same level of protection from crime. Nobody should get superior protection because of their race, creed, color, religion, politically connected family or bank account size. Hate Crime Laws are the most Un-American concept in our legal system. They are more wrong than the horrible practice of waterboarding. Think about it!

[maedean]

If this woman was white there would not be anyone screaming hate crime. I am so sick and tired of the hate crime bulllshit. Sick crime no doubt lock up these sick bustards. But don''t make a racial issue out of this..Time to get off the poor black issue or gay issue of a hate crime....Don''t matter what color the person is wrong is wrong but don''t try to make it a worse crime because of the color someones skin..

[billpl-2009]

Hate Crime???

since when is it against the law to hate?

There already was a crime involved....hate should nothing to do with it.

the hate police...coming soon to a town near you!

[jkb3792]

what about when groups of blacks or hispanics attack and harrass a white person! is that a hate crime??? Or would that just be a likeable crime?? Democracy at its best!!

[sgtrds]

This is an awful crime and if proven guilty, these people deserve stiff punishment, but can anyone tell me what physical crime does not involve hate?

Posted by exCoachKen at 10:12 PM : Feb 06, 2008

Sure, murder for hire. The killer does not hate the victim. However if a person picks out a particular person to commit a violent crime against because of their race or their gender or their sexual orientation, then that''s a hate crime and it should be. I have no problem telling the difference between a violent crime and a violent crime where the victim was chosen because of the above mentioned things. Hate crimes are very obvious in nature.

Education - optional
Bible Study - Mandatory

[sgtrds]

since when is it against the law to hate?

There already was a crime involved....hate should nothing to do with it.

the hate police...coming soon to a town near you!

Posted by billpl at 11:12 PM : Feb 06, 2008

It''s not against the law to hate. It is against the law to act out violently because of that hate. Then the acting out is illegal and so is the motivation. We always judge people involved in crimes based on their motivation. A drunk driver who kills a cop in a car accident is not judged as harshly as a person who stalks a cop and kills him because he''s a cop. In both cases a person killed a cop, but the motivation is different. Killing a cop because he''s a cop is a hate crime too.

[sgtrds]

what about when groups of blacks or hispanics attack and harrass a white person! is that a hate crime??? Or would that just be a likeable crime?? Democracy at its best!!

Posted by jkb3792 at 11:26 PM : Feb 06, 2008

Yes and in fact in Long Beach CA last year a group of black teens were convicted of assault and a hate crime because they beat up two white girls based solely on their race on Halloween two years ago. The girls were targeted because they were white and the attackers were convicted of a a hate crime attachment because they were black.

[klifton2-2009]

In America, nothing is what it seems. Racism is alive and well. America is one of the world''s most racist countries that try very hard to pretend it is not! Ask any person of color and they will tell you what it really is not what it appears to be.

[sgtrds]

Before I hit the sack I just wanted to point out that there is a story of a young Marine hero on this site who was killed on his 3rd tour in Iraq and no one seems to have noticed. I''''''''m sure that his parents and family are checking the posting a lot and it sure would be nice if some folks could drop the young man a thank you to make the family feel better. Sort of like signing the book at a funeral it makes the survivors feel better that people care.

[babarzm]

Yeah and do not forget to remember the Iraqis died during and after the military assault. A conservative estimate quotes more then 100,000 deaths.

They are also humans after all.

[roswi]

Is Al Sharpton also pushing for hate crime charges in the Channon Christian and Christopher Newsome case? He should be, they were tortured and murdered because of their race.

[tiptoe3333]

babarzm let''s not forget about the people..on 9/11.
or have you forgotten about them already??

[noirceur]

This horror story made me so angry,not just because of what these monsters did,but because they WILL NOT get what they deserve.All six should die,after a week of severe torture.My heart and best wishes go out to this young lady.Our justice system needs a major over-haul.And I am sick of people whinning about peoples rights that would do this to another human being.

[colonieny]

Sgt RDS: I read about the Long Beach case, yes the Black kids and one adult were convicted, but they served no jail time, all put on community service. The judge I am sure was fearful of a riot. One of the poor white girls had her face smashed in by a skate board, the attacker was a "star" athelete in HS. She thought he was going to rescue her, but he didn''t. The papers said she had permanent face pain, and other face problems. No sympathy from Jesse or Al ? no way.
The poor girls were savagely attacked. The attackers had Jesse come to their aid to be sure they got a fair trail, and NAACP too. True. look it up

[babarzm]

tiptoe3333,

Not at all mate every life is important.

It is difficult for me to accept though that Iraqis civilians are the right bait to capture those terrorists.

[pfd572]

Adding the included charge of hate onto a crime is so subjective and for that reason it should be discontinued. One has to ''assume'' what someone was thinking at the time the crime was committed, a very slippery slope. And the authorities can and do take into account only the political and social ramifications of charging or not charging as a hate crime. I abhor ANY crime based on race, sexual orientation, etc., the the statutes for physical crimes are severe enough, in fact more severe, than the penalties for a hate crime. Racism is not colored blind, so-called ''hate'' crimes are committed every day by whites, hispanics, and blacks. How many times has a minority been charged with a hate crime? It could be political suicide to charge a minority with a hate crime and that is the fault with the statutes, too subjective and easy to abuse. There will never be a level playing field, but it is morally wrong to tilt too far the other way. Saying all this, I hope these animals are sentenced to the most severe penalties allowed under the other charges. I pray for Ms. Williams and her family to find some justice from the courts and peace from knowing the right things were done for them.

[whatithink-2009]

Posted by Trueprogress at 01:22 AM : Feb 07, 2008

50% of the murder victims in the U.S. are black males. When there is a murder case with a white person are you pointing this out to everyone? If your concern is fairness, don''t you think it might be good to start there...unless you are just as biased as you claim the media is.

[whatithink-2009]

Posted by pfd572 at 02:32 AM : Feb 07, 2008

If you were to use facts instead of emotions you''d see that hate crimes have been charged against the full spectrum of society. Just look at the statistics.

By the way, read/look at the picture book Without Sanctuary - Lynching Photography in America. It''s available via Amazon. You''ll see the pictures of people there who you can blame for the necessity of hate crime bills.

[pfd572]

whatithink:

I am more than passingly aware of what has been the history of crimes against blacks and other minorities. But to say that the pendulum needs to swing overly far in the other direction is insulting to all minorities. I am a ''minority'' and all I want is a level playing field, not one that favors any group over another.

Did YOU know that in most cases of black male murders is black on black crime? The result of anger and frustration, plus the feeling of hopelessness. What is needed is access to the same level of education, not entitlement, encouragement, not condescension, involvement, not armchair activism. We were talking about hate crimes, something that is not colorblind, and what needs to be done about these acts TODAY. All races are committing violent crime against other races because of ignorance. And none of it is justified, regardless of the past.

[whatithink-2009]

It''s just ashame that we can''t discuss this case without someone trying to belittle it by bringing up cases that have nothing to do with it. Of course not all cases may make it to the national media but then the media should stop reporting on anything. Because when Natalee Holloway went missing somebody else went missing, when Laci Peterson went missing somebody else went missing, when the family in CT was murdered somebody else was also murdered.

50% of the murder victims in the US are black males but they receive about 0% of the national media coverage and even at the local level it''s fortunate to find something on page 60. Incidents were black females are also the victims receive also a small amount of the media coverage. Yet, for some people this is still too much...as in this case, the need to belittle the situation.

Shameful.

[whatithink-2009]

Posted by pfd572 at 04:09 AM : Feb 07, 2008

This is ONE case being reported. Where do you see the pendulum shifting in the other direction? If you''d look at FBI statistics you''d see the hate crimes have been charged against ALL races.

And, I don''t care who is killing the black males. That is part of the problem. As long as black people are killing each other, the general society doesn''t view it as a national problem. It becomes THEIR PROBLEM.

By the way, most white people are killed by other white people as well.

[pfd572]

And I would be more than willing to say mea culpa if you would provide examples instead of just saying to look at the stats. What stats are available that breaks hate crime prosecution down by race of victims and suspects?

hmmmmm?

What is the saying?.....Those that don''t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it? Allowing the unbalanced and selective prosecution of crime is a mistake, no matter what the ''good'' intentions. And I still think hate crime legislation is too subjective, if it would be decided on a more objective level maybe I would praise the intentions.

[whatithink-2009]

Posted by pfd572 at 04:18 AM : Feb 07, 2008

Sorry, I assumed you are an adult and know how to use Google. http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2006/table1.html

The issue has never been about the pendulum shifting. The issue has always been about people judging certain cases worse than others because of how the victim looked. Do you also complain about the media coverage given to certain missing persons?

[whatithink-2009]

Posted by pfd572 at 04:18 AM : Feb 07, 2008

Also, if your issue is subjectivity in prosecutions, you must be fully against the death penalty. The decision to take someone''s life via the courts in this country IS THE MOST subjective judicial process. The number of people who have been exonerated based on DNA testing also proves that it is not only subjective but open to many mistakes.

[whatithink-2009]

Again, as we focus on generalities this case gets lost. The woman''s pain belittled. I''ve been to discussion boards about Natalee Holloway, for example, and at least there people could spend a bit of time discussing the sadness of the case...instead of constantly bringing up cases that had nothing to do with it.

[iceman_1960]

"Sorry, I assumed you are an adult and know how to use Google."
- Posted by whatithink at 04:22 AM : Feb 07, 2008

And if not, he could easily have googled the instructions.

Actually, only kids use Google. Grown-ups use Dogpile.

http://www.dogpile.com/

[pfd572]

You brought up the black murder statistic like you were saying they were victims of hate murders. If that wasn''t your intention then it was misunderstood under the context you presented it. And I am in no way belittling any violent act against anyone, and I am intensely frustrated by the level of racism and intolerance that still exists today. I will say it again, ignorance is the cause and education, involvement and understanding by all people is necessary to stop the cycle. Poverty is the worse form of violence.

I have expressed how I am saddened beyond words at the abuse this young woman endured. I also agree that crimes against minority women and children is grossly underreported.

And you better believe I am against the death penalty and proud to admit it. For so many reasons. Mainly: The disproportionate number of black men being sentenced to death because of lack of funds to retain adequate counsel or the bias in some states, and the number of people found to be wrongly convicted and cleared AFTER sentencing.

[iceman_1960]

"By the way, most white people are killed by other white people as well."
- Posted by whatithink at 04:16 AM : Feb 07, 2008

That is not true.

Most white people die of natural causes.

[iceman_1960]

John McWethy, for example.

He was not killed by another white person.

[whatithink-2009]

Posted by Iceman_1960 at 04:45 AM : Feb 07, 2008

I was talking specifically about murder victims who happen to be white. In both case, black-on-black and white-on-white murders account for about 90% of the cases.

[whatithink-2009]

Posted by Iceman_1960 at 04:50 AM : Feb 07, 2008

LOL. Okay.

"McWethy died on February 6, 2008 at Keystone Resort in Colorado in a skiing accident. Witnesses reported he was skiing fast, missed a turn, and struck a tree, suffering blunt force trauma to his chest."

[pfd572]

iceman

I think his point was that white victims of VIOLENT crime are usually victims of white on white crime.

[iceman_1960]

John McWethy died in a skiing accident.

He was killed by a slope.

Of course there can be no rational explanation for such a tragic misfortune. In fact that is the meaning of the name McWethy: "Unexplained."

"McWethy

Irish or Scottish: unexplained."
- Answers.com

[whatithink-2009]

Posted by pfd572 at 04:42 AM : Feb 07, 2008

I think we are more in agreement than not in agreement.

I only mentioned black men accounting for 50% of the murder victims in the context of who gets the media attention related to crimes. This was in response to someone who seemed annoyed that this case was getting some attention and not another case. I was just pointing out that there are many crimes that are not reported by the media (example, if you only referred to the national media, you''d think 0% of the murder victims were black males) and that they shouldn''t take one case personally.

[pfd572]

Abraham said other defendants used the same slur Karen Burton did, but the fact that Burton used it while stabbing Williams made her act more clearly a hate crime.

Exactly my point on this being a subjective statute. It appears to me that the use of racial slurs indicates they all were ''hateful'' in their actions, but the prosecutor took a more rigid interpretation. But next week, next crime, different suspects... who knows......

[pfd572]

whatithink

I think you may be right about us agreeing on more than we disagree.

[dsr57]

In America, nothing is what it seems. Racism is alive and well. America is one of the world''''s most racist countries that try very hard to pretend it is not! Ask any person of color and they will tell you what it really is not what it appears to be

Posted by klifton2
-----------------------------------------------------

WOW, Are you semi R*tarded or are you a full blown window licker. That has to be the worst post I''ve seen in a long time.

Hey while were at it lets just ask any Inmate if there innocent or not they''ll tell us if they really are or not.

[skyk-2009]

WOW, Are you semi R*tarded or are you a full blown window licker. That has to be the worst post I''''ve seen in a long time.

Hey while were at it lets just ask any Inmate if there innocent or not they''''ll tell us if they really are or not.


Posted by DSR57 at 05:55 AM : Feb 07, 2008
+ report abuse

I was born and raised in the South Sparky. I''ve seen with my own eyes how these racist work and know their methods. Any people who still fly the Confederate Flag, KNOWING that it represents RACISM to all peoples on planet earth, can NOT say they aren''t racist.

[iceman_1960]

"I was born and raised in the South Sparky."
- Posted by skyk at 06:15 AM : Feb 07, 2008

No offense, but people raised in the northern parts of Sparky are generally more reliable.

[lloydbest1]

SgtRDS''s post of 2/6/08; 11:32 PM
I think the point he(?) was making or trying to make needs to be spelled out again. I will use two imaginary cases:
1. A man of a race different from mine attacks my spouse and I rush to her aid. In the ensuing struggle I prevent this man from harming her but in so doing I kill him. Because I killed him instead of merely wounding him I might be guilty of a crime; in any case what I did was nasty and violent.
2. I come up to a man of a race different from mine and kill him and make it known that my reason for doing so was because of our racial differences.
In both cases the man is dead. In both cases I have committed a homicide. In the first case one could argue that circumstances forced my hand and that there are mitigating factors. In the second case I am copping an attitude; acting out as a consequence of a system of ethics that allow me to believe that some else''s life is unimportant because of some superficial characteristic.
The sole purpose of hate crime legislation is (or should be) to stigmatize and discourage those kinds of attitudes and beliefs. Hate crime prosecution''s emphasis is not so much punishing the crime or the criminal but the value system that permits the cavalier disposal of other humans because of percieved differences one deems unworthy. The message?? Those values and beliefs have no merit in a democratic society such as this one and you hold to them at your peril.

[welshwoman-2009]

I''m white and I think the perpetrators in this case are pathetic and profoundly ignorant and I hope they are punished to the full extent of the law. There are problems with both races, especially in the south, and it''s way beyond old listening to these stories. I am from the north and live down south and the civil war was just one Chapter in our history book which we studied and learned we didn''t want to repeat.

[shammy0202]

She did not wannt her own kids to think she was involved in a sexual assult, but it''s ok if they know that she stabbed someone and called them racial slurs. LOL Some mother you are. I would be soo proud to have you as a mother...NOT!!!!!!!! SICK B-ITCH!!!