A sociopath, a disgrace, a deceitful thug, a liar, a democrat party member: D.A. Micheal Nifong
Posted on 05/11/2006 6:19:27 AM PDT by rwilson99
DURHAM - A Durham police detective investigating the Duke University lacrosse case arrested an alibi witness Wednesday on a 2 1/2-year-old misdemeanor warrant. Taxi driver Moezeldin Elmostafa said Investigator R.D. Clayton and another officer asked whether he had anything new to tell them about the rape case before driving him to the Durham County jail. He said no and was held for five hours, until a friend posted his bail on a shoplifting charge.
Ernest Conner, a Greenville lawyer who represents defendant Reade Seligmann, said the cabbie's arrest amounted to intimidation. "It appears to me they are trying to pressure a witness who supports our defendant's rock-solid alibi," Conner said.
Sgt. Mark Gottlieb, the supervisor of the investigation, refused to answer questions Wednesday night.
Elmostafa signed a sworn statement in April saying he picked up Seligmann from a Duke lacrosse team party just after midnight March 14. Seligmann and another player, Collin Finnerty, have been charged with raping an escort service dancer during the party at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd.
Elmostafa's affidavit said he picked up Seligmann at 12:19 a.m. that morning and drove him to an automated teller machine, a fast-food burger joint and back to his dorm. To corroborate the taxi driver's statement, Seligmann's lawyers filed copies in court of phone records, security photos from the ATM and electronic records showing when Seligmann entered his dorm.
The lawyers have said that Elmostafa's account and the records exonerate Seligmann.
Clayton, who is working under Gottlieb on the case, picked up Elmostafa on Wednesday afternoon.
"The detective asked if I had anything new to say about the lacrosse case," Elmostafa said. "When I said no, they took me to the magistrate."
2003 charge
Elmostafa was charged with a misdemeanor larceny that occurred Sept. 2, 2003, when a woman stole five purses worth $250 from the Hecht's department store at Northgate Mall.
Elmostafa said Wednesday that he had picked up Lisa Faye Hawkins and her daughter at their home and had taken them to the mall. Elmostafa said he waited in the taxi with the daughter while Hawkins shopped and then he drove the two home.
Elmostafa said he later received a call asking him to speak with Hecht's security. The security officer at Hecht's said Hawkins had stolen some purses before getting into the taxi, Elmostafa said.
Elmostafa said he gave the woman's address and a copy of his driver's license to the security guard, who thanked him for his help.
"I am not responsible for what she did inside the store," Elmostafa said. "I am just a taxi driver."
Hawkins pleaded guilty to the larceny three months later.
Elmostafa said he heard nothing about the case until his arrest Wednesday. He spent five hours at the Durham County jail before a friend put up $700 for the bail.
A Hecht's spokesman could not be reached Wednesday evening.
Conner said it was highly unusual for police to arrest someone for a misdemeanor more than two years after the crime. He contrasted the treatment of the taxi driver with that of Kim Roberts, the other dancer at the party. Conner said Roberts initially told police no rape occurred at the party but changed her story after she was arrested on a probation violation. District Attorney Mike Nifong later reduced Roberts' bail.
What a disgrace.
A sociopath, a disgrace, a deceitful thug, a liar, a democrat party member: D.A. Micheal Nifong
Not sure if you've seen this.
ACLU?
I am glad to see someone who stands up for what is right and is not intimitated by the police to change his story.
The humble, courageous, honest cabbie would make a better D.A. than the thug dirtbag currently infesting the office.
You got that right.
I agree with you, nothing new, just the Internet is showing how wide spread the practice is.
Somehow I don't think their intentions were so noble. They wanted him to change his story to suit the case they are trying to make, and they abused him in that effort.
I try to remain upbeat about the nature of those who are here to protect and serve. Having said that, I'm sure it was approached with it could break either way. If he caves, then we have Seligmann, if he hangs tough, then we cut Seligmann loose. Doesn't make them much difference -- their jobs are safe, their kids are okay. They don't have to pick up the pieces and move on -- pay the second mortgage off that paid off the attorney's fees. Yeah, you may be right, but in the meantime Reade may be released from the hell he's been going through -- that makes me very, very thankful.
I think the critical point here is that the DA is not a fearless defender of the downtrodden minority, as he's trying to paint himself, but someone who has no problem destroying these same minorities through intimidation tactics. A lot of the resentment by blacks of the system is because of exactly these type of cheap intimidation tactics.
BTW, a lot of colleges, particularly rich private colleges, are in the same situation as Duke. They've been established for maybe over 100 years, and the formerly pristine neighborhoods of their location are now occupied by black and hispanic populations. I know of a couple of these schools where the campus police primarily cruise the outer perimeters of the campus, making sure the "locals" aren't coming onto campus to break into cars, dorms, classrooms, etc. Yes, there are people who come on campus specifically to do that, but when enough law abiding citizens get stopped and questioned because they drove or walked across the campus to get somewhere, a significant amount of resentment builds up. When you add the fact that a lot of the kids at these colleges are rich and pretty dumb about life outside of the gated community, it's a volatile situation. Don't be surprised to see more of these "college vs. the local neighborhood" battles take place.
Not at all...genuinely wondering what the cabby's color has to do with it...if this is a case of witness intimidation.
Why isn't the "Justice" Department investigating this? This is a clear case of using police powers to suborn perjury. The cab driver is Black so it is also the white DA using the power of his office to intimidate a Black man into committing a crime.
I guess the Bush “Justice” Dept. doesn’t care because the guy is a citizen. If he were an illegal alien they would have a taskforce down there crawling into every orifice the DA has.
The voters down there elected this guy just recently, so I would assume this is the kind of justice they want. I wouldn't so much as visit the state.
You're joking - right?
Take that crap off these threads.
True. Outrageous, but very true.
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