reported in November, the cabdriver picked up two young men in Durham on March 14, 2006, and drove them to the Duke University campus. A month later, Elmostafa was asked to testify on behalf of one of the men, who had been charged, with two other Duke lacrosse players, with sexually assaulting an exotic dancer. Despite intense pressure from the prosecution, Elmostafa agreed to appear as a witness and helped exonerate the trio. Having recently passed his U.S. citizenship test, the Sudanese immigrant says he did only what all citizens should do -- tell the truth.
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.
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."
In spite of being threatened with the crime of stealing he had the courage to do the right thing. If he was found guilty he would probably been denied citizenship and maybe even been deported. Thank
God we have heros that will do the right thing, even when great harm could come to them, to help a stranger.
