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]

First question is, how long did it take Gottlieb to type up his notes?

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

I read somewhere tonight an old post which said he was a professional driver.

I thought "professional" was tongue & cheek asin professional pimp. LOL!

But could he truly be a driver by day, pimp at night?

[CondorFlight]

Again borrowing from a post at Talk Left :

"As recounted in one investigator’s notes, one of the indicted players does not match the accuser’s initial physical descriptions of her attackers: she said all three were chubby or heavyset, but one is tall and skinny. In Sergeant Gottlieb’s version of the same conversation, however, her descriptions closely correspond to the defendants."

Gottlieb may be headed to jail.

[Mike Nifong]

Great work ! Thank you .

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Could he be related to someone at NCCU. Someone UP the ladder?

I am going to run some of the NCCU names thru ancestry.

[CondorFlight]

I think this means that Gottlieb will now have to testify;
and that might be interesting.

But I think the Durham DA can be counted on to lie,
cheat, and steal, in order to win; and the Durham judges will be with him.

If Gottlieb can be shown to have lied about this, just as Himan lied for the warrants, then they should both end up in jail.

[maggief]

What was the time of the accident?

[Mike Nifong]

Gottlieb may be headed to jail.

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This guy is at the epicenter of EVERYTHING. Himan was 3 months into his job - very young - and his experience was cracking the case of missing weedwhackers - NO BS!

Gottlieb runs the show from the Police end - and he's Nifong's point man - IMO.

Many people on this site have done great work in sorting through this case, Identifying the BS, and digging up valuable information.

Thank you all !

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

1513

3:13 pm

[CondorFlight]

Note the waffle wordss :

"But in addition to the nurse’s oral description of injuries CONSISTENT WITH the allegation. . ."

(That could mean anything)

" But the files show that aside from two brief early conversations with the police, she gave LARGELY CONSISTENT accounts of being raped by three men in a bathroom. "

Does that mean that Kim helped the three men, or she didn't ; or that Brett and Kim hauled her into the bathroom, where she was raped by three men; or that Kim stole from her; or what? In what was were her later stories INCONSISTENT?

[JLS]

Yep, it sounds like the DPD after a few days jumped on the railroading bandwagon.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

One more thing about Brian's accident.

per the tax database, he has not paid his tag fee.

He was not ticketed for that. In fact the tag exp date said 2007.

I am not sure how it works in NC, but here in GA your tag expires the due date, no grace period.

[Mike Nifong]

GOTTLIEB - of Blinco's fame - comes in and fills all the gaps magically. All the gaps are filled and Gottlieb's account pegs these 3 guys. This is more than convenient.
This was a gift from God for Nifong and the prosecution - and, of course, Gottlieb's involvement in the Assault and Intimidation is overlooked, potentially.

"The sergeant’s notes are drawing intense scrutiny from defense lawyers both because they appear to strengthen Mr. Nifong’s case and because they were turned over by the prosecution after the defense had made much of the GAPS in the earlier evidence."

NYT

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Does anyone know if av's ex has a brother?

There is a Christopher O'Neil living in the same building

[JLS]

But in addition to the nurse’s oral description of injuries consistent with the allegation, Sergeant Gottlieb writes that the accuser appeared to be in extreme pain when he interviewed her two and a half days after the incident, and that signs of bruises emerged then as well.

Let's see:

1. Correct me if I am wrong, but I doubt that Gottlieb would be allowed to testify about the medical condition of someone who was seen by multiple MDs unless he is an MD himself?

2. Again correct me if I am wrong, but I doubt Gottlieb would be allowed to testify about what the SANE said since she is available to testify what she saw or said herself.

3. Finally I think everyone is correct that Gottlieb's notes of her descriptions of her "attackers" written up after the fact will not carry as much weight as those of others who heard her descriptions prior to her picking out three people.

[Mike Nifong]

NYT has Crystal's College GPA at a B now - how many times have we read 3.75 ?

It'll be a C by the the trial rolls around.

---

False names - Dan Flannery used Dan Flanigan when booking the dancers.

Yeah, like it takes a great Detective to figure out who called the Escort service.

_

[maggief]

Those NCCU folks are well aware of Brian Taylor. Unless he's operating as a cabbie, which is doubtful, one wonders how he ended up with the daughter of the current and/or previous NCCU vice chancellor of Institutional Advancement. Driving a '95 Accord, nonetheless.

[SarahUSC]

This isn't good. The whole piece is basically a justification for taking the case to trial. I'm not surprised it's coming from the NY Times though.

Gottlieb's notes are unbelievable. They weren't turned over until July 17th so I guess he had alot of time to work on them. His notes are night and day from Himan's notes. Himan's notes have the descriptions as all being short and chubby. Gottlieb's have one as being blond, baby-faced, tall and lean. He's got another at 6ft and having dark hair. Come on.

Cheshire says this is so transparent that it shows desperation.

[Mike Nifong]

Here goes the New York Times,

They totally discount the woman's multiple versions that she told MULTIPLE police officers as confusion. They simply write it off to confusion - implying the Police Officers misunderstood Crystal.

_

[maggief]

Possible Relatives
1. MCNEIL, KENNETH C
Associated names:
MCNEIL, KENNETH N
41 Available Available DURHAM, NC
CONCORD, CA MCNEIL, CHEVELLA E (age 43)
MCNEIL, CHERYL T
MCNEIL, OSCAR WENDELL (age 42)
MCNEIL, CASSIEBELL H (age 71)
MCNEIL, MARLOW J (age 34)
MCNEIL, DALE
MANGUM, CRYSTAL GAIL (age 28)
HOBBS, LAJUANA DAYNISE (age 27)
MCNEIL, PAUL EDWARD (age 45)
MCNEIL, CRYSTAL