Warrant served on witness in case
Samiha Khanna, Joseph Neff and Benjamin Niolet, Staff Writers DURHAM - Durham police had no ulterior motive when they arrested an alibi witness on an old misdemeanor warrant, District Attorney Mike Nifong said Thursday.
The Wednesday arrest of Moezeldin Elmostafa --
-- a cab driver who says he can provide an alibi for one of two men accused of raping a woman at a party held March 13 by the Duke University men's lacrosse team -- drew fire from defense attorneys, who said the arrest of a key defense witness was equal to intimidation.
It is common practice for police to run the names of people involved in a case because they don't want any surprises when the case goes to court, police spokeswoman Kammie Michael said Thursday. Investigators, who took Elmostafa to jail on a 2003 warrant for misdemeanor larceny, did not ask him specific questions about the lacrosse case, she said.
There is no unit of officers at the Durham Police Department charged with clearing old warrants, which, as of last fall, exceeded 10,000. So when officers discover an unserved warrant and know where the person is, they should serve it, Nifong said.
That was the goal the two investigators, Benjamin Himan and R.D. Clayton, had when they approached Elmostafa, authorities said.
"It came up in the context of we were collecting information on potential witnesses," Nifong said.
Ernest Conner, a Greenville lawyer who represents defendant Reade Seligmann, sees the arrest differently.
"It appears to me they are trying to pressure a witness who supports our defendant's rock-solid alibi," Conner said Wednesday.
Defense lawyers say Elmostafa's statements in the Duke investigation can exonerate Seligmann, who has been indicted in the case along with lacrosse teammate Collin Finnerty.