Trial date set for Duke lacrosse witness (DukeLax Cabbie to be Nifonged)

Raleigh News and Observer ^ | August 15, 2006 | Staff

[abb]

DURHAM, N.C. -- A cab driver who has supported an alibi offered by one of the three Duke lacrosse players charged with rape had his own court appearance Tuesday for a larceny charge.

Moezeldin Elmostafa, 37, appeared briefly before a Durham County District Court judge who set a trial date of Aug. 29. Prosecutors also changed the charge against Elmostafa to aiding and abetting misdemeanor larcency.

Elmostafa was arrested in May after he surfaced as a potential alibi witness for Reade Seligmann, one of three players charged with raping a woman at an off-campus party the night of March 13.

The 2003 warrant accused Elmostafa of stealing five purses worth about $250 from a Durham department store. Elmostafa denies the charge, and has said he helped store security locate a woman after he picked her up from the store and drove her home. The woman later pleaded guilty to larceny.

Durham prosecutors said in May the warrant for Elmostafa's arrest was discovered in a routine background check of witnesses in the Duke lacrosse case.

Mostafa has said Seligmann, of Essex Fells, N.J., called for a ride at 12:14 a.m. on March 14, and was picked up five minutes later. The defense has argued those times help establish that Seligmann left the party without having enough time to participate in the 30-minute assault described by the accuser. Seligmann's attorney has also presented cell phone, ATM and dorm keycard records to help establish that timeline.

[CondorFlight]

Vespers

A Psalm (35)

Since they hid their net for me without cause
and without cause dug a pit for me

May the net they hid entangle them
may they fall into the pit to their ruin

Ruthless witnesses come forward
they question me on things I know nothing about

Attackers gathered against me when I was unaware
they slandered me without ceasing

Let not those who gloat over me
who are my enemies without cause
let not those who hate me without reason
maliciously wink the eye

They gape at me and say, "Aha! Aha! With our own eyes we have seen it."

Do not let them think, "Aha, just what we wanted!
or say, "We have swallowed him up!"

May all those who gloat over my distress be put to shame and confusion

May those who delight in my vindication
shout for joy and gladness
May they always say, "The Lord be exalted,
who delights in the well-being of his servant."

[abb]

I've often said this case is a Trial By Media, as opposed to a legal case. I still think it is.

To use a warfighting analogy, I liken Joe Neff's August 5 NandO article to a nuclear air burst that paralyzes the enemy's communication systems via the weapon's electromagnetic pulse (EMP).

Note Susan Estrich and Cash Michaels' ephiphany. Others were rendered mute - the FA's koolaid drinkers have been much quieter on the CTV, TalkLeft and WTVD boards. Joe's piece was the first story done anywhere in the DriveBy Media that lays out what really is going on.

Now if, and I emphasize if, 60 Minutes does the story they should do, it will be the equivalent of a GBU-28 (Bunker Buster).

Ideally this will take out Nifong and Durham County's command and control facilities. The enemy will have to sue for peace. It will be interesting...

[Hogeye13]

"Note Susan Estrich and Cash Michaels' ephiphany."

I agree with what you have written here. I am interested in how much positive play Cash is getting among the bloggers for revealing late last week that Nifong is hard to believe. Most of what he wrote about in his column was known around these circles for months. Now I know he supposedly has seen the 1800 pages of discovery, but none of us needed to see all 1800 pages to understand what was going on. The bloggers should be asking what took him so long. Is he just slow or was that his prejudices showing?

[abb]

Is he just slow or was that his prejudices showing?

I submit it was Neff's airburst that changed his mind. That was a powerful article. Notice how quickly Neff's relatively small error was attacked by the WTVD reporter and NandO's Ted Vaden.

In a PR war, often you can tell how effective is your campaign by the enemy's response. If the enemy squeal and howl, you know your shot was deadly...

[abb]

OT, but they've arrested someone in the JonBenet Ramsey case.

k6, I don't know if the JonBenet case is OT. It has a very similar element - Trial By Media. The Ramsey's were accused, tried and convicted in the media - just like the DukeLax players were. Very instructive...

[jennyd]

Maybe both. LOL.

[abb]

Duke AD: School Made Right Decisions In Lacrosse Case
http://www.wral.com/apncnews/9691829/detail.html

[Hogeye13]

That is sort of my thinking. While Neff's article was informative in some respects and filled in some areas, it didn't reveal substantial new information. The correction of the date of the note was the most important thing in the article. The most striking thing about the article was that it was printed in the N&O and I get the impression that Cash is less than enamored by them.

[Ken H]

I think having Cash Michaels turn on Nifong is priceless - regardless of his motives. True, we've been saying these things for months - but now it's been said by one of the voices listened to by Nifong's staunchest supporters.

We've had little to no traction with that base so far. Perhaps Cash can gain some purchase.

[Jezebelle]

"Perhaps Cash can gain some purchase."

I'm sure he'd like to gain some cash to make a lot of purchases.

[Hogeye13]

yep, I think that is what he is looking for. Cash for Cash. That might work well as a website for him: www.cashforcash.com. More imagination that "our hearts world", don't you think.

[Ken H]

I speculated earlier that Cash may have concluded that Nifong is going down, and he's positioning himself as best he can to deal with the fallout.

Regardless, such articles make for a nice club to use against the likes of Melanie, Ted, et al. And I believe in calling a club a club:)

[Hogeye13]

I think your first sentence is absolutely right, it just took him a long time to get there. But, when you are positioning yourself to take advantage of a situation, timing is everything. In this case, within the "black community" that he speaks for, his timing may be impeccable.

[Jezebelle]

I doubt that Tommy really believes that. Everyone of us is frustrated as all get out about this case. Sometimes we let out some of that frustration on the people we think should be doing something about the situation.

The face that Durham has presented of itself in this case has not been pretty.

Having said that, I can appreciate your feelings about all Durhamites being lumped together under the umbrella of ignorance, racism and corruption revealed in this case.

Welcome to FR and thanks for the rest of your comments. This forum is about as up-to-date and on top of breaking events as you can find. abb and a poster named "Mike Nifong" are especially diligent in keeping us current. I hope you'll post some more of your views of the case from your perspective as a Durham resident.

[TommyDale]

Your choice of words proves my point.

[JLS]

Duke AD: School Made Right Decisions In Lacrosse Case

In other news:

1. Cheney supports Bush policy.

2. Democrats support Lamont.

3. Bishops support belief Jesus was the son of God.

ADs work for University presidents. ADs for the most part don't have tenure and they certainly DO NOT have tenure as AD. So how is it news for some to claim his boss made the right decision?

[Jezebelle]

Quite clever! ;>

[Jezebelle]

Dog bites man, to be sure.

[pepperhead]

Calling out a seasoned freeper on your first post. You got guts.....