The Key Witness (page 2 of 2)

Scare Tactics

The taxi driver thought of his own two-year-old son, Mohammed, back in Sudan. He hoped the boy would grow up in America, maybe become a doctor. How could he let this other man's son go to jail?

"I will testify," he said. "I will stand up and tell the whole truth." Elmostafa swore out an affidavit and even produced a cell phone bill that listed a call from Reade Seligmann's phone at 12:14 a.m. on the day of the alleged assault. The cabbie repeated his story to detectives.

Two weeks later, the same detectives showed up at the taxi office with a warrant for his arrest. Elmostafa was confused. Hadn't he done everything you're supposed to do in America? Hadn't he told the truth? Kamal Balal, his business partner, watched police take his friend away in handcuffs.

Elmostafa's heart pounded during the ride downtown. In Sudan people could be arrested for next to nothing and sometimes languished in jail for years without a trial.

At the station, Elmostafa was booked on a misdemeanor larceny charge. It dated back to September 2003, when he'd driven a woman to a department store, waited for her in his taxi and then driven her home. The woman later pleaded guilty to shoplifting $250 in handbags from the store. Elmostafa told investigators he was unaware of what his passenger had done.

The case had been settled more than two years earlier, Elmostafa thought. Why were police dragging it out again now? As he sat in jail, waiting for Balal to arrive with the $750 bail, he began to fit the pieces together. By the time he walked out, five hours later, he was steaming.

"They're trying to scare me so I'll change my testimony in the Duke case!" he told Balal. Police claimed his arrest was not unusual, saying they routinely investigate witnesses who may be called to trial.

Durham County District Attorney Michael Nifong was already under fire for using strong-arm tactics. Elmostafa was determined not to be intimidated. He hired a lawyer, bought a new white dress shirt and faced the misdemeanor charges in August 2006. He was acquitted.

Eight months later, the Duke lacrosse players were cleared of all charges too. Jim Cooney, Seligmann's attorney, called Elmostafa "one of the great heroes of this case." Cooney lauded the taxi driver for refusing to be cowed. "He told the truth under oath, exactly the way we expect a citizen of this country to do."

DA Nifong was disbarred last June, after a North Carolina State Bar disciplinary panel found him guilty of ethics violations, including withholding key DNA evidence from the young men's attorneys.

As for Elmostafa, he still owes a friend $2,500 for attorney fees. But the experience hasn't soured him on America. If anything, he says, it demonstrated a criminal justice system that works. He's passed his citizenship exam and is waiting to be called to take the oath. "I'm looking forward to being a good citizen."

From Reader's Digest - November 2007

 

• Heroes
• • Hero of the Year

• 2006 Hero of the Year: Meet the Winner
• "The Dad" is 2006 Hero of the Year.
• 
• A Tornado Traps Children in a Crumbling School
• When the school collapsed around the children, they rushed in to help.
• 
• Two Men Rescue a Mother and Child
• Two men brave an icy river to rescue a mother and child.
• 
• A Woman Is Attacked by a Slasher
• When his young co-worker was attacked by a stalker, Ted Lidgett sprang into action.
• 
• Pit Bulls Maul a Helpless Man
• Zohnn Griggs could only watch as two pit bulls viciously mauled a man.
•