Posted on 08/15/2006 2:41:50 PM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at dwb.newsobserver.com ...
Heads up:
Don't forget to write your local radio and tv talk show hosts about the case.
If they have not been following it except through the MSM,
most of them will have NO IDEA of the arrests taking place in Durham, the witness intimidation, the criminal oligarchy which runs Durham, etc. They will NEVER FIND OUT if they have only the MSM to rely on.
There are hundreds of these local hosts; and there are also hundreds of local opinion columnists in newspapers. Email a couple of them and tip them off to what's going on and where they can find out more about it.
(There will be no fire until somebody lights a match.)
That's a good thing, of course, but I still shake my head at this:
"....District Attorney Mike Nifong as well as attorneys for the three defendants -- Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans -- want the case to be designated as exceptional and to have one judge oversee the case...."
I know NC does it NC's way. But having one judge oversee a case does not seem "exceptional" to me.
This on another board.
"For the legal eagles on the board, does the judge review discovery in an effort to understand the legitimacy of charges? Or does a judge simply listen to the arguments of the two sides?
If a judge does review discovery, in this case some 2000 pages, can he/she render an opinion on the veracity of case before it goes to trial. Or, as a grand jury has seen fit to indict is the judge powerless?"
I say the judge can summarily dismiss the case. What say y'all?
Maybe Duke could figure out not to throw its students under the bus this year and then the media would not view things at Duke as such a big story.
Maybe they can do a story on how Duke Law school hosted a seminar for incoming freshmen law students with Darryl Hunt, who was wrong imprisoned for 20 years for rape, but cleared when DNA tests were done.
Strangely, NONE of those students or faculty hosting the event have since been bold enough--despite what they said at the time--to utter a peep about Duke students being CLEARED by DNA but still charged, right in their own front yard.
BS detector always on.
It has to be, I am the mother of 3 sons.
"I say the judge can summarily dismiss the case."
I would think he can quash the original warrants, which
were based on false info.
Quash the flawed (laughable) photo ID.
Dismiss on the basis of no evidence.
(Any of the above will be sufficient, I think.)
That's what any reasonable and fair minded judge, not bent on preserving a corrupt system, would do.
If the judge doesn't do these things, then he should face impeachment and be made to do a perp walk as an accomplice to all the vile doings in Durham.
If he isn't brave enough to do these things, then he should resign and get off the bench.
(JMHO, of course. . .)
Is the judge a dem or a rep ????
Does anyone know ?
"Is the judge a dem or a rep ????"
Bayly in DC was a rep (with a PR making him sound like a cross between Solomon and St. Francis)
Didn't help much.
Corrupt politicians/judges come in all flavors.
See link @ 398. Which I've already email to the NandO's...
New information.
Single judge appointed to handle Duke lacrosse case
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/15305522.htm
Can the N&O not assign someone who is up on a story to cover the story. The schedule of NC v. Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann is now up in the air and the judge will not be assigned to it when it comes to trial but NOW. That is the whole point.
I would hope so, JLS. BTW, Monday's hearing has been cancelled. See latest article...
I'm guessing the judge is a demorat .
If the judge was a republican I'm sure it would be a major detail for the corrupt MSM
The DA said that? My god, the guy is on tape saying he did it.
Go figure.
Of my 3 sons 2 were born in NC and one is (GASP!) a Yankee-born in Syracuse.
Don't want to upset other NC natives, but guess what 2 sons lack a bit in the common sense department? Of course, it could be my husband's gene pool. I guess I will never know, LOL!
I don't think the new judge will review the evidence and make any judgement about the case. He is not the trier of facts.
But the defense via their motions will force him to review the evidence. The judge could throw out the indictments, I guess, since they were based on evidence collect through a defective warrant. Or the judge could throw out the IDs which are clearly defective and can not be fixed.
So to us nonlawyers it might look like the judge reviewed the evidence, but I think technically that will not be the case. But hopefully the motions will start to be heard.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.