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Vote for Moezeldin Elmostafa Hero of the Year 2008
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Jan 7, 2008 - 8:49:15 AM

undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined Everyday Heroes: The Witness From Reader's Digest November 2007 Photographed by Kelly LaDuke Cabdriver Moezeldin Elmostafa risked all for the truth. He�d fled violence and corruption in his native Sudan and had come to Durham, North Carolina. Moezeldin Elmostafa worked hard and became a partner in a taxi company. Shortly after midnight on March 14, 2006, he drove two young men to Duke University. A month later, he got a call to testify for one of three Duke lacrosse players charged with sexually assaulting an exotic dancer. What would happen to him if he did testify? The taxi driver thought of his own two-year-old son, Mohammed�and agreed. Then the police showed up and took him away, reopening an earlier charge for a minor crime. It was to frighten him, he believed, off the defense�s case. Elmostafa had to borrow $2,500 for attorney fees, but he stuck to his story�it was the truth. And he was cleared of all charges. Eight months later, so were the Duke lacrosse players. The experience hasn�t soured Elmostafa on America. He�s passed his citizenship exam and is waiting to take the oath. "I�m looking forward to being a good citizen."  the complete story bellow.

undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined The Key Witness A cabdriver caught up in the Duke University rape case dares to tell the truth. By Lynn Rosellini From Reader's Digest November 2007 A Costly Fare The cabdriver was living the American dream. He had fled the violence in his native Sudan in 1999 and had come to the United States, settling in North Carolina because he�d heard it was warm, like Africa. He sent money home to his parents every month, first from his job delivering pizza and then from wages at an IBM factory. But Moezeldin Elmostafa had bigger dreams�of opening his own business and bringing his wife and three children to live with him. In 2004 he started a taxi service with a friend. He could not have imagined that, two years later, a late-night fare would put him at the center of one of the country�s most notorious legal cases. Durham, North Carolina, is a college town, and Elmostafa, 38, was a familiar sight as he shuttled students between Duke University and other campuses in his bright red On Time Taxi van. Passengers liked the friendly, soft-spoken driver, and his Sudanese buddies admired his honesty and work ethic. It wasn�t unusual, shortly after midnight on March 14, 2006, when a call came in from a student requesting Elmostafa�s cab. When Elmostafa arrived at the corner of Watts and Urban Avenues, two young men, dressed in T-shirts and shorts and clearly in a post-party mood, piled in. Joking and laughing, they directed Elmostafa to an ATM, then to a drive-through restaurant. Finally, Elmostafa delivered them to Duke�s West Campus. The fare was $17, but they gave him $25. Nice tip, he thought. He picked up one more passenger that night, then went home to bed. A month later, the phone rang at On Time Taxi. It was an attorney representing Reade Seligmann, one of three Duke University lacrosse players charged with sexually assaulting an exotic dancer during an off-campus party. At the time of the alleged crime, Seligmann said, he was riding in Elmostafa�s cab. Although the Duke rape case had captured the nation�s attention, Elmostafa didn�t follow the news, preferring to spend his free time barbecuing on his deck. But he knew one thing: He didn�t want to get involved in a criminal trial. He loved his new country, from McDonald�s hamburgers to Court TV. Most of all, he loved the opportunity here. �You can start from nothing in America,� he had told friends, �and you can be something.� He had applied for citizenship and worried that being a witness in court might jeopardize his chances. When the lacrosse player showed up with his father a few days later, Elmostafa immediately recognized the burly, six-foot-one student. �My son didn�t do anything,� Philip Seligmann said. �His whole life is in front of him.� Could Elmostafa vouch for the ride? 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.� Last Updated: 2007-10-22

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