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.

[jt_lancer]

If white on black crime is a ''hate'' crime, does that make black on white crime a ''love'' crime?

[michellem99-2009]

we as a nation will get over it when we treat all as human..we will get over it when crime and violantne is lessen. we will get over it when greed is kicked the asre and done away with. we will get over it when all have a home. We will get over it when gangs are put in their place. we will get over it when America stays home and stop the wars she starts. we will get over it when we see people as humam, we have alot to learn and it starts with ye and yers,

[whatithink-2009]

Posted by Klingon69 at 04:27 PM : Feb 07, 2008

There is no double standard. Every time there is one topic where the victim is black or hispanic, people like yourself try to find a case that you think has been missing where the victim is white. One story about a black or hispanic victim is too much for you to take. You might have to have sympathy for these people!

Are you crying for the little black and hispanic girls who have gone missing when the Natalee Holloway case is being reported? Are you crying for the little black and hispanic girls who have been killed by their husbands when Laci Peterson is discussed?

Get over it.

[michellem99-2009]

They bring up the south and their flag...the bible is a hate book..that is why it is banned in some places..That is all the race for the white white votes..and who spead the most money.We know that war is over oil..Maine was never a slave state as I was born there. I think those 6 asres should pay her medical bills..THAT GIRL IS DISABLED. They used that to hurt her..whites stared the n word. I am white and I was called the n word at 15, for helpping a child of colour..so what I told my peers off..

[realtalk5950]

And I give Lincoln no credit either. The only reason he drafted the emancipation proclaimation to free slaves was to get votes....You think he really gave a d*mn about slaves? please....

[realtalk5950]

"Now I know that many, like the KKK, use the confederate flag in their ceremonies, lynchings, attacks...etc. However it does not mean that any person who has a confederate flag is a racist"

Posted by Klingon69 at 04:39 PM : Feb 07, 2008


Actually it does. Why else would you use a symbol that represents the confederate states of america. Southern states that wanted to continue slavery and uphold slave owners rights....sounds like racists to me. I guess people who have Nazi flags in their backyard aren''t racists either eh?

[klingon69]

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.
Posted by skyk at 06:15 AM : Feb 07, 2008
How does it mean racism to all the people of earth? Have you personally interviewed every living soul on the planet to achieve this?
No as usual you engaged your mouth(fingers) before you put your brain in gear.
First: There were many different "Confederate Flags", so which one do you mean?
Second: The confederate flag does not mean racism to everyone of the planet, because many fly it, for their heritage.
Third: What does the confederacy mean to you? Most of the confederate soldiers that died in battle never owned a slave. Slave-owners were rich enough to not have to go to war.
The WAR OF NORTHERN AGGRESSION, was fought over economic reasons and States Rights. Lincoln himself said if he could heal the nation without freeing a single slave, he would do it.
Now I know that many, like the KKK, use the confederate flag in their ceremonies, lynchings, attacks...etc. However it does not mean that any person who has a confederate flag is a racist.

[klingon69]

Yet, for some people this is still too much...as in this case, the need to belittle the situation.

Shameful.
Posted by whatithink at 04:13 AM : Feb 07, 2008
What is belittling about pointing out a double standard? There is little justice in the justice system today (doubt there has ever been much).
If this were a white woman, kidnapped and torutred by 6 blacks, or hispanics would you feel as incensed?

[bunnybaum]

This story makes me sick to my stomach. We are all God''s children no matter what color skin we have. Why can''t everyone just live in peace and harmony until we can all be together in paradise? People should treat others like they themselves would like to be treated...I know, I do.

[marlenemn]

Posted by skyk:

"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."

My Response: skyk - you rock, buddy!

[michellem99-2009]

I feel her pain as a female with handicaps..I was abused in foster homes..I heard her on TV..We are one race and I hope they get life..

[muzicsee]

"Racism is the child of ignorance and the mother of indifference". Pinta62
I am of mixed race and can feel the pain.

[michellem99-2009]

I DID WATCH THE PROGRAM. So I hope they get life. I am shock of the the hatred a witch hunt..we got no business in the middle east when America is blind here..One race human..

[michellem99-2009]

I going to watch this on the M williams show when it airs and that is why I put a tv card on computer. If my memory is right that lady is also disabled.. That in itself pisses me..yes the n word hurts. So does the bloody remarks the sighted threw at me growing up. This person has stood up to the plate and put them in their place. As the saying goes go girl and win..I am rooting for ye and yers..I am white and that means nothing to me. I am legally blind. I am 53.Them bas*tards would not ever pick on her in my person. I have told a gang to stuff it.

[tireslinger]

Karen Burton was surprised at the hate crime charge,and relieved that it didn''t stick.....because she didn''t want her children to think anything like that about her????!!!! So, it''s ok that they know what she did to that girl, but just don''t call it a hate crime....I hope that she only partially rots in jail, so she can finish her rotting in hell!!

[dsr57]

KUPD in Phoenix? Is that a radio station?

[lynne_m1]

Some mother she is, then we wonder why we have racists in this country, her children are following in her footsteps, let her kids be proud that she stabbed someone while calling that poor girl the name she did. They need to be prosecuted for hate crimes, if this was not clearly a hate crime I don''t know what would be considered one. Like the girl said FRY. I hope they do for what they did to her.

[azcagirl]

Are you by chance the window lickers autistic cousin?
Posted by DSR57 at 08:29 AM : Feb 07, 2008
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA LMAO! I have never heard that on here! Only on KUPD in Phoenix.

[whatithink-2009]

Posted by DSR57 at 09:19 AM : Feb 07, 2008

I think so.

[dsr57]

Can you be charged with a hate crime if the person your assulting is of your own race? Has that ever happened? Like I if I get into another fight with a white guy and call him a cracker the whole time. and then walk off and say "That''s what happenes to crackers around here?" Would that constitute a hate crime?