I was in HS when this all unfolded, and really didn't pay much attn to it. I just recall as a youth it caused a lot of stink on the news channels. I still see references to the case here and there. I still don't know of the whole story,I just know that she supposedly lied?.


Twenty years after her allegations of a racially charged rape became a national flashpoint, Tawana Brawley's mother and stepfather want to reopen the case, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Glenda Brawley and Ralph King want to press Gov. Eliot Spitzer and state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to re-examine the November 1987 incident, which a state grand jury ultimately concluded was a hoax, the Daily News reported.

"New York State owes my daughter. They owe her the truth," said Glenda Brawley. She reiterated her stance that her daughter was indeed raped by a group of white men who smeared her with feces and scrawled racial epithets on her body.

Representatives for Spitzer and Cuomo did not immediately respond to telephone and e-mail messages early Saturday.

Brawley was 15 when she went missing for four days from her home in Wappingers Falls, about 75 miles north of New York City. After being found, she made the shocking allegation that she had been abducted and raped by six white law enforcement officials.

The case quickly made headlines and drew the attention of the Rev. Al Sharpton, who became an outspoken advocate for the teen.

But a special state grand jury found evidence Brawley had fabricated her story. A former Dutchess County prosecutor who had been implicated in the case later sued Brawley, Sharpton and other Brawley advisers for defamation, winning a $345,000 judgment against the advisers and a $185,000 judgment against Brawley.

A spokeswoman for Sharpton, who was held liable for $65,000 in the case, did not immediately respond to an e-mail message early Sunday. The former prosecutor's lawyer did not immediately return a telephone message.

Brawley has changed her name and become a nurse, the Daily News reported.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312086,00.html

Hoax.

There were no indictments in an investigation conducted by a grand jury in October 1988, which cited a lack of evidence, concluding she had not been abducted, assaulted, raped or sodomized.

quote:

a group of white men who smeared her with feces

now thats pretty hardcore... dont hear of people doing that very much...

Never heard of it, but it sounds crazy. Can't imagine wanting to open back up that can of worms if they proved that she lied? Especially since she has changed her name! That will certainly come out now!

I remember it well, Complete Hoax.

She was supposedly outside during a very cold period with temperatures below Freezing, yet according to Doctors, EMT's, Nurses wasnt suffering from Exposure.

Her family had just moved and her former Apartment(within Yards of where she was found) had recent signs of Habitation.


No forensic evidence of Rape. She was seen by witnesses at Parties in a Nearby town while missing. She had no Bruises, Contusions, scratches other than a small bruise behind her ear.

AN oh by the way, the Racial epithets scrawled on her torso were Upside down, as if she wrote them herself.

Tawana is a Complete Fraud, running scared of her stepfather, a convicted Murderer.

http://www.courttv.com/archive/legaldocs/newsmakers/tawana/part1.html


http://www.nycourts.gov/press/old_keep/brawley.htm


But hey she Made Al Sharton the man he is today....

Very strict parents. She lied to deflect their anger for under aged drinking "lost weekend". All "injuries" and filth were shown to be self inflicted.

Tawana was living, last I heard, quite nicely in Virginia Beach with in excess of $1,000,000 contributed by Bill Cosby , Jesse Jackson etal, but mostly Cosby.

RE-opening would be a BIG detriment to her, Sharpton, and others. Bad idea for them, besides it is way past statute of limitations for anyone living or dead. All it wqould do is make some look very bad and anger the taxpayers, AGAIN.

I fail to see the importance of this story. Who cares what the mother and step dad do 20 yrs later? Wasted news space.

A total hoax which she admitted to because of spending the weekend with her then boyfriend and not wanting to get in trouble with her folks. Its a money scam pure and simple.

I'm willing to let bygones be just that with Brawley herself. But I will not do so with that prick Sharpton--not until he pays the money he owes Pagones and promises to never again to try to be a parasititic race-baiter. Of course, I won't be old and grey when that happens--I'll have been long dead....

I remember it VERY WELL. I live here in the Poughkeepsie area. And YES INDEED......A Complete HOAX. PERIOD-THE END!!!

I also remember this very well as I was living in Briarcliffe Mannor at the time. It started as a way to explain a couple of nights away from mom and dad. Then after Sharpton got involved it became a racially motivated gang rape. Cosby kept supporting her long after it was apparent that she was lying. I lost a lot of respect for Cosby because of this incident.

Apparently Cosby learned SOMETHING from the Brawley events - you didn't see him at the gates of Duke University last year demanding that the lacrosse "rapists" be turned over to the mob. Can't say the same for Sharpton or Jackson, who have yet to apologize for their race-baiting roles in THAT affair ...

What a crock. As other have pointed out, this was a complete hoax from the get-go. She snuck out, partied with her boyfriend, and made up the story because she was scared of what would happen to her at home. No excuse, but she was only 15 at the time.

The racist talking heads (good ole' Jesse and Reverend Al) made fools of themselves supporting her. Sharpton even named specific officers that were supposedly involved even though they were no where near the area. that put them through public scrutiny and embarrassment for NOTHING! Something I do not recall him ever apologizing for. Of course, now everyone wants to hold up Sharpton up as the elder statesman for black issues and the quintessential civic leader. What a bunch of BS.

Her mother wants the truth? She already has it, but just can't handle it.

Sharpton is a complete and utter TOOL.
Credibility= ZERO.

I remember the case.

I recall how quickly Sharpton, et. al., became silent when she was discredited. In fact, if I remember correctly from reading one of the links she never responded to a Grand Jury subpoena.

I think it's odd that the mother and step-father are pushing for this, and not the alleged victim. Guess they are a little short on cash and want to see if they can milk this old story.

quote:

Originally posted by Boats22151:
I remember the case.

I recall how quickly Sharpton, et. al., became silent when she was discredited. In fact, if I remember correctly from reading one of the links she never responded to a Grand Jury subpoena.

I think it's odd that the mother and step-father are pushing for this, and not the alleged victim. Guess they are a little short on cash and want to see if they can milk this old story.

That's what I don't get. What does she have to say about her parents re-opening this. Does anyone know if she went on to marry? Have kids, a succesful life?

I seem to remember her admitting it was a hoax too.

parents are probably done on their luck and thinking somehow money can be generated from this.

In 1998, Pagones was awarded $345,000 (he sought $150 million) through a lawsuit for defamation of character that he had brought against Sharpton, Maddox, and Mason, in which the jury found Sharpton liable for making seven defamatory statements about Pagones, Maddox for two and Mason for one. The jury deadlocked on four of the 22 statements over which Pagones had sued, and eight statements were found non-defamatory. [8]

Pagones had also sued Brawley. She defaulted by not appearing at the trial, and the judge ordered her to pay him damages of $185,000. As of 2003, none of the award had been paid.

Earlier this year Rev. Sharpton was asked if he was finally ready to apologize to Mr. Pagones and he said "never".

What a jerk.And he made that big stink over Imus and his crack about the Rutgers women.I repeat: TOOL.

Sharpton was going to come up to Dutchess County for a rally when this thing was in full swing. However he was persuaded it would not be in his best interest to do so. Something about to many trees, rifles and not enough police in the area to do anything. Not fiction just fact.

Don't know why the parents waited 20 yrs to request a review while the daughter has moved on with her life hoax or not.
I guess they plan on doing talk shows and news tour