They Charge That Governor ‘Allowed Bigotry to Run Rampant’ : Lawyers for Alleged Rape Victim Call Cuomo Racist

Lawyers for Tawana Brawley, already under criticism by some prominent members of the black community for shielding their teen-age client from investigation of her claim that she was sexually assaulted by six white men, attacked Gov. Mario M. Cuomo as a racist Thursday and accused him of “presiding over bigotry in the state.”

Cuomo replied with a one-sentence statement: “Justice is found by seeking the truth, not by appealing to hatred.”

Gary G. Fryer, Cuomo’s press spokesman, added: “There is nothing to be served by engaging these fellows, it only whets their appetite.”

Remains in Seclusion

After a day of scalding rhetoric, the months-long puzzle about precisely what happened to Brawley remained no closer to solution. Her lawyers and her family are keeping the 16-year-old former cheerleader in seclusion and have refused to make her available to a special prosecutor or a special grand jury investigating the case.

At an emotional news conference in the basement of the Bronx Criminal Courthouse, one of Brawley’s lawyers, C. Vernon Mason, and her adviser, the Rev. Al Sharpton, a pastor without a parish, refused to let Brawley’s parents speak with members of the news media who sought to question them.

“The governor of this state has allowed bigotry to run rampant,” Mason charged. “His only concern is his image.”

The lawyer and the minister also lashed out at their critics in the black community and at the press. By their language, they made it clear that they would seek to keep their client from testifying before the special grand jury well into the time when the nation focuses on New York’s presidential primary on April 19.

Seen as ‘Litmus Test’

“The litmus test for justice in this state and nation is going to be Tawana Brawley,” Mason said.

Mason also sought to draw Democratic presidential contender Jesse Jackson into the confusing and controversial case.

“We are sending a special appeal to Jesse Jackson--where do you stand on Tawana Brawley?” he told reporters, who were kept behind a barricade by court guards.

Last Nov. 28, Brawley was found dazed and wrapped in a garbage bag near the apartment her family had vacated in Wappingers Falls in Dutchess County, north of New York City. Her hair was cut in places and racial epithets were written on her body. She claimed that she had been abducted and sexually assaulted by a group of white men, including one with a badge.

The case drew national attention after comedian Bill Cosby and Ed Lewis, the publisher of Essence magazine offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to arrests in the case. After heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson visited the Brawley family, he promised her a $50,000 college scholarship.

But gaps in Brawley’s abbreviated story have begun to surface in news reports, and, increasingly, questions are being raised about its authenticity.

Seeks to Debunk Doubters

At the news conference, Sharpton sought to debunk the questioners. The Pentecostal minister with deep contacts both in the record business and in professional boxing, said those skeptical of Brawley’s account will be “embarrassed” when she tells her whole story.

Sharpton, Mason and their associate lawyer, Alton H. Maddox Jr., first gained national prominence when they were instrumental in pressuring Cuomo to name a special prosecutor in New York’s Howard Beach case. Sharpton now heads an anti-drug organization in New York City. He has admitted that he was a paid informer for the FBI at one point in his career.

In the Brawley case, unlike Howard Beach, when special prosecutor Charles J. Hynes successfully brought convictions against four youths charged with chasing a black man to his death on a busy highway, Brawley’s lawyers have refused to cooperate with U.S. Atty. Gen. Robert Abrams, who was named special prosecutor to investigate the events in Wappingers Falls. They charged Abrams lacked prosecutorial experience and had a conflict of interest because he owned a summer home in Dutchess County.

Two Withdraw From Case

Abrams was appointed on Jan. 26 after two Dutchess County prosecutors withdrew from the case because of conflicts of interest.

The stalemate has pitted Brawley’s advisers, not only against the governor and Abrams, but also against some prominent black leaders.

State Assemblyman Roger Green, chairman of the Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Caucus in Albany, held a press conference this week castigating Sharpton for using “tactics that encourage race wars” when speaking for Brawley. Green joined the Rev. Carl Fleminster, executive director of the American Baptist Churches of Metropolitan New York, who said it was a “travesty” that the lawyers and Sharpton “refused to let this investigation proceed except on their own terms.”

“For Tawana’s sake let’s end this power struggle,” Fleminster urged.

Expressing similar sentiments were state National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People President Hazel Dukes and Manhattan Borough President David M. Dinkins.

Similar to Revival Meeting

But on Thursday there was no sign the power struggle was ending. If anything, the attacks by Brawley’s advisers on Cuomo escalated. At a news conference in the Bronx, that at times had overtones of a revival meeting, Mason, with almost religious fervor, supported Sharpton’s criticism of the governor.

“You’ve got a state in New York now like Alabama 25 years ago,” Sharpton charged. “You got a man who wants to be President for some of the people.”

Despite Brawley’s present lack of cooperation, a special grand jury of 12 men and 11 women, including two black men, has been impaneled in Poughkeepsie to investigate the case.

Researcher Eileen V. Quigley contributed to this story.