I wrote a lot about the Megan Williams case last September, then nothing happened for a while until earlier this year when most of the defendants were sentenced after guilty pleas. I didn’t write about that. I was going through one of my non-blogging phases, plus (I am ashamed to admit) I was just sick of writing about those disgusting people. I admire people who can write consistently about depressing, enraging topics. It must feel so draining. I couldn’t do it, which probably makes me part of the problem. But onward.
On Tuesday, Bobby Brewster was sentenced to 10-25 years for sexual assault, 2-10 years for malicious assault, and 1-5 years for conspiracy to commit kidnapping, for a total of 13-40 years (he got consecutive sentences). If you don’t remember, Bobby Brewster was the man who Megan Williams had apparently been involved in a relationship with and who had been arrested for domestic battery against her.
After Brewster’s guilty plea, that leaves only one of the seven who has not yet been sentenced. The only one remaining, Danny Combs, is scheduled to go on trial in September for kidnapping, first degree sexual assault, and conspiracy (to commit kidnapping, I guess, but the Gazette article doesn’t specify). I won’t be surprised if he ends up pleading guilty too.
What I didn’t write about earlier this year were all the rest of the guilty pleas and sentences:
- In February, George Messer and Alisha Burton were sentenced to up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping and assault during the commission of a felony.
- In March, Frankie Brewster was sentenced to 10-25 years for second degree sexual assault.
- Also in March, Karen Burton was sentenced to 14-30 years. She received a sentence of 2-10 years for two assault charges and the maximum sentence of 10 years for a hate crime. Burton is the only one of the seven who pled guilty to a hate crime.
- In June, Linnie Burton, Jr. was sentenced to six months in jail (suspended) and a year of supervised probation for battery. I believe he is the one who was not initially charged, but was later determined to be involved to a lesser extent than the other six (hence the much lighter sentence).
When some of the plea deals were announced, some people expressed disappointment or anger. I suppose to some people, “plea deal” may sound like the prosecutor and the judge decided to cut the defendant a break, but I really don’t think that’s the case here. Except for Linnie Burton’s battery charge, these are very serious felonies that these people pled guilty to. Frankie Brewster, who is forty-nine years old, will probably die in prison. Karen Burton and Bobby Brewster may well die in prison too. The fact that Karen Burton received the maximum sentence for the hate crime charge has to be seen as a victory for the prosecutor.
If not for these plea deals, there would have been seven separate criminal trials, assuming the prosecutor would have tried them separately. Even if he had tried some or all of them together, that trial process would have been somewhat of a nightmare, I would think. There are so many different things the prosecutor has to consider: the amount of time it would take for the whole trial process to play out, the risk of the defendants not being convicted, the risk of the defendants getting lenient sentences, the possibility of the defendants appealing their convictions (drawing the process out far longer), the pain Megan Williams would experience in testifying. I’m not claiming to speak for her — for all I know she may have really wanted the opportunity to testify against these people, though the prosecutor’s office does say the plea deals were reached after consultation with the victim and her family.
So, while I know that people in West Virginia will learn the outcome of this case, I feel like I need to provide the conclusion for the many people outside of West Virginia who heard about this case when it made the national news and were searching for information about it. (This blog had lots of traffic back in September because of it.) Stories like this have a way of making big news when they first happen, then just disappearing.
13 to 40 years means he could conceivably be paroled in five years, if he’s lucky. That’s a far cry from your thought that he could die in prison.
Let’s hope the parole board remembers how horrible these people are when they ask for their leniency and parole.
5 years? Really? I feel kind of dumb, since I’m a lawyer and all. (But I don’t do criminal law.) I thought a minimum of 13 meant just that.
In West Virginia you receive 1 day “good time” credit for each… well, “good” day. (I’m not positive, but I believe this is measured by days without write-ups). So assuming a model inmate, you can cut the time in half for each charge. Traditionally with indeterminate sentencing (where the sentence is given as a range) the minimum refers to the sentencing floor, but it is affected by good-time adjustments in parole consideration.
If the sentences are running consecutively, I believe the inmate must serve out the net duration of charge 1, before the clock begins on charge 2… good time starts over, etc, for each charge. I’d have to see the sentencing order to be sure, but Harki may have done the math for us in the article. That is, taken all the counts together the earliest Williams would be eligible for parole is 13 years. (I’m speculating and could be wrong).
Disclosure: I’m not a lawyer nor do I play on TV. If I’m wrong, please feel free to correct me. (And it would be nice if the policy is available online somewhere, to direct me to it so I can get this right when students ask about it.)
Oops, in my previous comment I meant Brewster.. not Williams. Apologies for the mix up.
When I have time, I’ll see if I can find it for you online (since I’m interested in reading it too).
I don’t think that’s right, Corey. From my time in the state system, I thought the good time only reduced the max sentence, not the minimum. Thus in a (say) 1 to 15 year sentence, you’d become eligible for parole after 1 year and, if you weren’t, would be out with full good time credit in 7.5 years. So I think in this case, the minimum would really be 13 years before parole eligibility and a 20-year max if he got all the good time credit.
But, I could be wrong. We don’t do this x to y years bit in federal court, which makes things a little less confusing. Don’t have parole, either.
JDB… I thought the good time policy changed a few years ago to apply to the minimum, but am not at all confident about that and I’ve been known to misunderstand what I read. I do distinctly remember a conversation with a deputy warden at one of the state’s facilities where I was told you get good time for each good day. I’m trying to hunt down the policy and will report here once I find it (I used to have a copy of the parole manual but don’t remember which file cabinet I stuck it in).
Well crap, I stand corrected (I really should check things before making assertions):
§28-5-27. Deduction from sentence for good conduct.
(b) Such commutation of sentence, hereinafter called “good time,” shall be deducted from the maximum term of indeterminate sentences or from the fixed term of determinate sentences.
Also pertinent to the Brewster sentencing:
(e) An inmate under two or more consecutive sentences shall be allowed good time as if the several sentences, when the maximum terms thereof are added together, were all one sentence.
JDB you are correct. The law still deducts good time from the maximum term, not the minimum term as I previously asserted.
Okay, that’s what I thought. Well, I didn’t know the details on the good time deduction, but I did think that the minimum was truly the minimum amount of time that would actually be served. Thanks for looking that up.
megan was lying about all that happen to her she now stay in ohio
i want to know why megan williams lie about the kidnapped cuz those six people really shouldnt be in jail that long for some fuck up bitch thats fucked up in the head to fucking lie about the warts being remove from her but it was that thing coming out ur ass when u strain
I went to school with Bobby and his older brother. Bobby’s brother is in jail for child molestation, Bobby and his mother have been in jail before but you won’t here much about it because he was a minor at the time.(he killed his father). I doubt Megan Williams was lying I just think she wants her boyfriend back. The Brewster boys had a hard life I won’t go into detail but its really sad. I’m not exusing their behavior but I think the system failed them. They should have never been given back to their parents. I never picked on them but I wish I would of befriended or stood up for them. Kids are cruel and they don’t realize that some kids have a hard life at home. When you see kids at school who smell and wear the same clothes everyday you don’t realize that they don’t have anyone to take care of them at home. You just think they choose to be that way. It breaks my heart that these kids are alone in the world. Imagine what it would be like to be tormented in school everyday, then you go home to a horrible life. I’m not saying that all kids in these situations grow up to be bad people, but most of them do.