Megan Williams Of West Virginia Recants Allegations In Torture Case

COLUMBUS, Ohio — 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 most are serving long prison terms.

Prosecutors in West Virginia have dismissed Williams' new claim, and lawyers for the defendants aren't discussing their plans.

Comments

[CC1]

Wow, what a moral upstanding human being, to lie and wait until multiple people imprisoned for something they allegedly did not do, then turn around and tell everyone hey I lied. if the shoe were on the other foot, Sharpton would be rallying for the defendant. Double standards?

[EvieEve]

It wouldn't surprise me if she's being intimidated or threatened in some way by outside sources. That should be investigated

[sizogee]

...and this story is no longer on the first page.

[dazed]

Something doesn't add up.I can see one person confessing to a crime under duress,But seven?

[Sean68]

These high-profile black victim-white attacker stories are like manna from heaven for the mainstream heaven. This will be at best a page Z-26 correction.

[ibivi]

How thoroughly was her claim investigated before they brought charges? If she has a mental disability why wasn't she evaluated before they proceeded with criminal charges? It would appear that something did happen to her but now she is recanting. Given that people ended up with jail sentences, the whole matter needs to re-evaluated and sorted out.

[CC1]

..And if it's proven that the supposed "victim" lied, she should be jailed for perjury

[TheFabOne]

Being an African-American male, I am always disheartened when I hear stories like this and the Duke Lacrosse team case. I'm even more disheartened when I find out that most of them aren't true.

For the record, while the law may have said that the Duke Lacrosse team was innocent, they WERE caught on tape calling those two strippers the 'N' word, so we know at the very least, they have racist tendencies.

But this is sad too, because this woman may have had innocent people locked up for no reason. I can't be for innocent Black people in prison and not be equally as supportive of innocent White people as well.

But one thing troubles me.........if this girl fabricated this whole story and these people are innocent, why did so many of them confess to doing this?

[mltaylor13pt1]

Two plus two is not adding up to four in this case. If she made this up, they why did the authorities say they had physical evidence to corroborate her story? Why did five of the seven defendants plead out? The FBI needs to investigate this pronto.

[DevonTexas]

On what evidence did they convict, other than the testimony of the "victim"? Shouldn't there be SOMETHING more before people get sent to jail?

[qdog112]

Does a confession work for you? How about a confession with forensic evidence and corroborating depositions?

[simpleperson]

The reason the people pled guilty is that given the climate at the time of the story they were guilty before the trial ever took place. Shapton, Jackson...all the typicals were there playing to the national stage. Bottom line, these folks may have been poor and under educated but they were smart enough to see the writing on the wall. There was no way a trial was going to go their way...no matter what.

[zenwhenicanbe2]

The world, and especially our justice system is a very very imperfect place. People plead guilty often to avoid a harsher sentence in what they believe will be a slam dunk case. If you're a broke person from w. virginia you probably won't be able to mount a very formidable defense.

I hope they send those people home if they didn't do it.

[IslandGyal]

WTH is wrong with these people and these stupid false accusation­s!?!?!??!?­!? When something legitimate happens then everyone turns a blind eye and don't care because of these frauds, geeeez.

[Notrepublicrat]

Wait a minute - the accused plead guilty due to public and prosecutor pressure only? Say it ain't so!

I'm sure those prosecutors are gonna get into trouble...not!

By the way, the title of the article should be changed - it implies that she's recanting her story but that the story is true (thus her recanting is the only lie).

[jaschrod]

Sounds like the Tawana Brawley case in 1972, which Al Sharpton supported so heavy against white people, even after she admitted she lied.

[sixletters]

Yes you're right it's all Al Sharpton fault.
I'm not a big Al Sharpton fan, but if a girl came to me and told me that she had been raped by 7 people and was made to eat dog feces, my first instinct would be to go and get a baseball bat and those 7 people had better start running. If it's true that she was lying it's 100% her fault and she should go to jail.

[qdog112]

Against white people? Are you serious? Do your homework. Know the facts about the Brawley case, then come back.

If in fact, those people are innocent, why on earth did they plead guilty? The justice system is not so screwed up that they routinely send white defendants to jail for crimes not committed. On the other hand, you reached back 35 years to compare a case. I venture to say that over 35 years, thousands of innocent black people have been jailed and the records show numerous "Susan Smith-like" cases.

This is a crazy case, but pleading guilty in this one says a lot about what actually took place in my opinion.

[RTIII]

"The justice system is not so screwed up that they routinely send white defendants to jail for crimes not committed."

That's false.

It's much more about class than race, once you get to a courtroom. I'll agree that in a great many locations in this country blacks are arrested and brought to trial more often than whites, but it is exactly this disparity that is fooling you.
.

[RTIII]

"The justice system is not so screwed up that they routinely send white defendants to jail for crimes not committed."

That's false.

It's much more about class than race, once you get to a courtroom. I'll agree that in a great many locations in this country b/acks are arrested and brought to trial more often than wh!tes, but it is exactly this disparity that is fooling you.
.

[RTIII]

"The justice system is not so screwed up that they routinely send white defendants to jail for crimes not committed."

That's false.

It's much more about class than skin, once you get to a courtroom. I'll agree that in a great many locations in this country one color is arrested and brought to trial more often than another, but it is exactly this disparity that is fooling you.
.

[ThoughtAboutIt]

Brawley was born in '72 but the case was in late '87. Sharpton was 33 when he started working with her.

[MissCupcake]

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/x1536730700/Woman-in-torture-case-now-says-she-lied
Strange story, indeed.