Duke Hoax surfers

should take a look at Friends of Duke University every day or so.

FODU offers commentary; an excellent media links page updated sometimes two or three times a day; and message boards that contain almost entirely civil, informed comments and questions and support statements for the real victims of the hoax.

FODU has published some of the profiles in writer Joan Collins’ outstanding Profile in Courage series.

One of Joan profiles is below. I hope it tempts you to visit FODU.

(Disclosure: FODU sometimes links to me. But it’s a great site anyway.)

Profile in Courage : Moezeldin Elmostafa

Previously I have written about Dave Evans, one of the three indicted Duke students and Kerstin Kimel, Duke’s Women’s lacrosse coach. They remind us that amid the darkness of the Duke Lacrosse Case, some true heroes have emerged.

Today I want to tell you about a seemingly ordinary man whose actions in extraordinary circumstances are a profile in courage.

You may recall Moezeldin Elmostafa. He's the cab driver caught in the cross fire of DA Nifong’s indictment of Reade Seligmann. Elmostafa picked up Seligmann and his friend, Rob Wellington, when they left the party the night of Mar. 13/14.

Elmostafa drove the two students to a Wachovia ATM machine where a video camera recorded Seligmann using the machine. From there, Elmostafa drove Seligmann and Wellington to “Cook Out,”a fast-food restaurant, and from there to their dorms on Duke’s West Campus.

Elmostafa's recollections of the evening along with his cab pickup and fare records are important parts of the evidence that proves Reade Seligmann could not have committed the crimes for which a rogue DA Nifong had him indicted. Elmostafa signed an affidavit describing his recollections of the evening.

Up to this point, it would seem to most Americans that Elmostafa had done nothing more than what any good citizen should do.

So where is the courage?

We began to see it on May 11, 2006 when Elmostafa was arrested on an almost 3-year-old warrant for larceny. Historian Robert KC Johnson observed :

” Nifong's office has repeatedly denied any connection between the arrest and the lacrosse case. Yet the notes of [Durham Police] Inv. B.W. Himan revealed … that ‘Mr. Nifong wanted to know when we picked [Elmostafa] up.’ This note enhances the credibility of Elmostafa's claim that when Inv. R.D. Clayton picked him up, ‘The detective asked if I had anything new to say about the lacrosse case. When I said no, they took me to the magistrate.’”

The larceny charge related to Elmostafa picking up a passenger, driving her to the mall, and then driving her home. Shortly thereafter, he was contacted by store security who informed him that his passenger had shoplifted five purses totaling about $250.

Elmostafa assisted security by providing his passenger’s address and his own driver’s license. Store security thanked him for his help and he never thought about it again. The passenger, Lisa Faye Hawkins, a woman with a record of 127 arrests, pleaded guilty about three months later.

Elmostafa was represented by attorney Thomas Loflin, who called the larceny charges “entirely frivolous”. Loflin said, "It was striking that two principal investigators in the lacrosse case served the warrant instead of one uniformed officer.”

According to Loflin, detectives don't serve warrants unless it involves a murder charge or some other very serious felony. Loflin added, "This is the first case I know of where that has happened, in Durham at least.”

Elmostafa was acquitted of all charges on August 29, 2006. During the trial, two police investigators in the Duke Lacrosse case sat in the courtroom. They never explained why they were there.

Throughout this travesty known as the Duke Lacrosse case, some ‘fantastic lies’ have been told and unraveled. In recalling the events of that evening, Elmostafa never wavered. Perhaps he followed Mark Twain’s advice “Always tell the truth; that way you don't have to remember what you said.”

Elmostafa bravely stood up to Durham’s high stakes game of ‘Truth or Consequences,’ and in doing so he risked everything. He was arrested, incurred legal expenses, spent five hours in jail, and had his picture and name on the news and in the press. All of this for a total stranger.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Elmostafa refused to remain silent about something that mattered, even in the face of risk to himself. He showed himself to be a person of integrity and courage.

Courage transcends gender, race, nationality, and social status. It’s deep within all of us, waiting for a critical moment when we’ll act as Elmostafa did when threatened and abused by those sworn to protect him.