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.

[Neverforget01]

caught like cockroaches in the beam

Excellent metaphor for the MSM! May I steal it?

[CondorFlight]

'Excellent metaphor for the MSM! May I steal it?'

Please do :-)

[Jezebelle]

LOL! I got kicked out of CTV! You remember the Cash Michael article which he concludes with stating there is no evidence so how is Nifong going to explain to the "Durham African-American community" why there is no trial? Well, they had the same article there starting a thread and another Cash Michael follow-up thread on the same subject of his article and his abandoning support for Nifong. I pointed out that the black Durhamites have some responsibility in this, too. Dear God! That's a mortal sin over there! Somebody (probably a black person, I don't know) got offended and pushed the 'whine' button, and I got booted! Here's part of the exchange (the whiner is in the parentheses inside the quotes responding to me), and I'm also in the ---- response:

"I don't think it matters much if the threads get shut down if all you're going to do is defend raci$t behavior [not "defend", but not blame an entire race either] ."

----It was Cash Michael, the subject of two threads now, who is speaking of black Durhamites. Neither he nor I discussed the entire black race.

"I haven't said that Nifong [who is white] isn't primarily responsible for this debacle. He is. But he had a lot of help from black [and white] Durhamites in getting this case where it is. snip... They should accept their responsibility for what they did to these boys ["they" is/are not a single race in Durham]"

----Tell Cash Michael that, whose article subject is the black people of Durham. Please, try to follow and stay on topic.

"As for the accuser, I, too, place her behind Nifong in culpability, but she's a very, very close second to him ["close second", lead by a white?] ."

----Um, no. No wonder you worry about threads being shut down. You obviously look for race insult where there isn't any. The "close second" refers to position in culpability. That would be why it was all in one sentence. See how that works? (subject, verb, prepositional phrase, altogether in one sentence means they're connected in thought directly to one another).

"I'm not the one who did any profiling in this case. I don't live in Durham. [you're doing it now]"

----Oh? How so? I'm just discussing Cash Michael's new position in this case. That is the topic. His view is that this is all Nifong's fault and how will he explain no trial to the "Durham African-American community."

*SHRUG*

Why don't you complain to the author of the article which he talks about again on this thread when he comes back? Tell HIM you don't like race being brought into the case, especially if he's going to lump all black Durhamites together by referring to them as the "Durham African-American community"? He didn't specify John Smith of Main St. and Joe Jones of Elm St. He referred to the "African-American community." Deal with it.

[Jezebelle]

I think it was kbp6969 who whined. Here's another one s/he didn't like:

"It was Cash Michael, a black writer, who said that the "African-American community" of Durham will want to know why there will be no trial. So, you see, it's Cash Michael who lumped them altogether in the first place, not I. I'm just pointing out some shortcomings in his thoughts along those lines.

And what is all this about getting threads shut down anyway? Why would anybody shut down the thread? The topic of the thread and the other Cash Michael thread both relate to certain racial aspects of the case and the black population of Durham. Doesn't it follow that those ideas would be the discussion underway in the thread? Or are we supposed to discuss potted plants and recipes in threads where the opening article is about race? Just wondering."

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

LOL! You got kicked out for what?

Stating logical, well-reasoned responses to someone with whom you disagree?

God help us, these are the people who salivate to sit on a jury in a criminal trial.

[xoxoxox]

The Clean-Up Durham Campaign Begins
just in time for CBS cameras----


"Parents say goodbye as freshmen arrive at N.C. Central"

BY GREGORY PHILLIPS : The Herald-Sun, Aug 16, 2006 : 10:34 pm ET

DURHAM -- Forget nervous students. Wednesday's move-in day for freshmen
on the N.C. Central University campus was much more nerve-racking for
parents having to let go. -----

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-761796.html

"Taking back the streets"

By BriAnne Dopart : The Herald-Sun, Aug 16, 2006 : 7:57 pm ET

DURHAM -- Kasib Abdullah had tried everything.

Two years into his battle against the women he claimed were prostitutes
haunting the corner in front of his restaurant, Abdullah said he had few options
left but to take the situation into his own hands. ------

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-761779.html


"Sheriff's deputies descend on East Durham"

By BriAnne Dopart : The Herald-Sun, Aug 15, 2006 : 10:23 pm ET

DURHAM -- If you drove through or passed through parts of East Durham
on Tuesday afternoon, you might have thought the city was under siege.

If you live in one of the houses along Harvard Avenue near Guthrie Avenue
where sheriff's deputies conducted a large-scale operation for several hours
in the late afternoon, you might have just been grateful for the presence
of law enforcement.

Sheriff's deputies descended upon the District 1 neighborhood for what
was in essence a license checkpoint. Deputies walked up to every car
passing through the neighborhood and asked drivers for identification.
Those with active warrants were arrested. -----

http://www.heraldsun.com//durham/4-761487.html

"The day the news died"

'Busted and eviscerated' Herald-Sun struggles to find itself after sale

JANUARY 12, 2005

http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A23462

[JLS]

Sheehan is one of the most pathetic writers I have ever encountered. She goes from Ms. Know It All smearing the entire lacrosse team to Ms. I Don't Have An Opinion but here is what the are saying on the blogs.

What a little girl. If you are so tough and opinionated, the step up to the plate when you realize you are wrong and say what it going on. Don't quote internet posters opinions because you are too chicken to have your own.

[Locomotive Breath]

"Duke AD: School Made Right Decisions In Lacrosse Case"

should read

Duke AD: Kisses Prez butt to keep from being unceremoniously fired like Pressler.

[TommyDale]

Is Cash Michaels really that important of a player in the black community? Up until this case, I never heard of him.
Think he set up the story with Ed Bradley from the black angle?

[San Jacinto]

Good point on the S?L. If the warrant was for a theft charge and now it's changed to aiding and abetting, that may affect the validity of the warrant as far as meeting the S/L requirements. Also, right to a speedy trial issues can be raised separately from the S/L defense.

[San Jacinto]

I don't watch 60 Minutes. Period.

If they do a Nifong story, I assume it will be a far cry from an 'attack' piece or even a fair representation of his abominable conduct. It will probably be more like,'He has a really tough situation to deal with' or some such.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll find out all about the segment here at FR as soon as it happens.

[pepperhead]

I think Coldwater is just looking for any reason to ban the defenders of the Duke 3. I bet more of you would get banned if more losers just hit the 'whine' button.

[xoxoxox]

Memo to: CBS Durham camera crew
Re: footage- hoax rape
cc: R. Hartman

Don't forget to pack night lenses.

Get key to 610 NB from Brodhead's
office for interiors.

Swing by 704 Rigsbee near midnight.

[ltc8k6]

I wonder if DPD had begun to check on the accuser's story and seized her computer before Nifong fonged his way into the case?

[abb]

Ruth speak again...

http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/28951.html
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/ruth/index.php?title=don_t_misinterpret_the_column&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1#comments

[abb]

The media angle in the JBR case, pertinent to the DukeLax case...

A New Rush to Judgment in Ramsey Case?
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003018974

[Ken H]

Think he set up the story with Ed Bradley from the black angle?

It's a long shot, but I can't think of any other plausible angle that would justify the "blockbuster" label.

The MSM has already played every negative angle against the Duke players, so a hit piece won't have much effect. And 60 Minutes knows that the bloggers will be loaded for bear if they attempt any mischief.

So at worst, this will turn out to be a big yawn - "let the justce system work", "a trial will discover the truth" etc.

If there is anything to this "blockbuster", then I would keep an eye out for a shift from the NC NAACP. So far, they still seem hell bent for a prosecution.

[JLS]

...but I can't think of any other plausible angle that would justify the "blockbuster" label.

Well then you failed to understand the ego of the MSM. There view is that if they did not cover it, it did not happen. So it is a blockbuster IF they cover it.

[Ken H]

I'm confident that an agreement did take place and Nifong has signs, symptoms, and injuries consistent with having his ass kicked. It seems this case is a Durham Problem that demands a Person (county) Solution!

Data on Person County:

Total population - 35,623

White - 24,504, 68.8%
Black - 10,049, 28.2%

Politics

Person County supported George W. Bush in the last two presidential elections. According to unofficial vote totals for 2004, Bush received 8,953 votes and Kerry received 6,177 votes.

Contributions from Person County persons to Federal election candidates in 2004:

Dem - $8,100
GOP - $41,917

(For Durham County it was Dem - $726,265; GOP - $346,085)

http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=19555

[Mike Nifong]

Thanks

I agree