Pirate's Cove

While I was perusing (well, trolling) the Democratic Underground for some good progressive seething, I ran across this article from the Washington Post

Long before the case against three Duke University lacrosse players collapsed in public, a soft-spoken Sudanese immigrant knew that something wasn't quite right.

When asked, he told the truth: One of the players had been in his cab that night — and nowhere near the house where a sexual assault allegedly occurred.

But as soon as Moezeldin Elmostafa, 39, a Durham cabbie, became known as a key alibi witness, his attorney says, Elmostafa fell victim to Durham District Attorney Michael B. Nifong's rough-and-tumble tactics.

He was arrested.

"I was afraid," he recalled at his attorney's office Thursday during a break from driving. "I'd never been in handcuffs, I'd never been in the back of a police car, but there they were taking me away. . . . In Sudan, when you are arrested, it might be months before you see the sun again."

He was later freed and found not guilty of the two-year-old misdemeanor. But even as this city moved on today from the news that the prosecution of the lacrosse players would be dropped, and that Nifong had issued an apology, some pointed to Elmostafa's ordeal as an example of the kind of intimidation and bluster that had allowed the prosecutor to pursue the case so far.

Elmostafa is "one of the great heroes of this case," Jim Cooney, a defense attorney in the Duke case, said at a news conference before a phalanx of cameras yesterday. "He told the truth. He put it under oath, exactly the way we expect a citizen of this country to do. And what did that get him from Mike Nifong? They served a two-year-old warrant on him with no basis and tried him for a bogus shoplifting charge to see if they could intimidate him."

Three thoughts: first, this shows the pattern of prosecutorial misconduct and abuse by Mike Nifong. It's no wonder he took the oath of office in private. That way, no one could see his crossed fingers.

Second, when did so many on the Left take the side of the accused lacrosse players? I keep seeing comments around the 'net about things turning out the way they should have, rather then the previous ones about them being guilty because they are white.

Finally, why in the hell didn't the NC State Attorney Generals office jump in earlier, when they saw the pattern of abuse?

Meanwhile, Allahpundit points out Rose McGowan stating that the "Duke boys HAD to be guilty of something" while on….what else but The View. Rose should just stick with what she does best: acting in her birthday suit or close to it, much like Cameron Diaz. Nope, sorry, not going to link to Cameron's psuedo bondage vid. You can find that on your own, along with her proported porn vid.

But, hey, I did find some of those great "stand up for justice" comments at one of the usual suspects

• When the DNA tests failed to identify any of the players the case was basically shot so this is undoubtedly the correct legal decision.

  But there were still a number of problems at that house, underage drinking being one. There is also little doubt that the woman was forced into the bathroom where inappropriate behavior took place, though not criminal. Accordingly, Duke should hand out suspensions if it can be determined who was responsible for allowing minor to drink, who arranged for strippers and those involved in the inappropriate behavior in the bathroom.

  The behavior, while not criminal, was none-the-less sick with follow-up action appropriate.

• Talk about a nappy headed ho! (I guess that is supposed to be liberal humor)
• As expected. White men were free to rape black women during American slavery too. It's nothing new.
•  Dear geg,
  You are pretty confused when your equate actual rape with false accusations. I don't believe even the reddest of rednecks would condone this behavior, if true.
  Do you think it appropriate to convict somebody of something they did not do? There is MUCH more than reasonable doubt surrounding the accusation. (nice slur on Southerners, eh? Defeats everything else the commenter wrote)
• I wouldn't worry about their futures they all come from pretty wealthy families who, whether you agree or not, are priviledged in this society. They take care of their own not unlike our president and his family. (do I go with the "Like Ted Kennedy" or "class warfare and a Bush mention" comment?)
• To Ballerinagirl: The "boys" brought this whole shame on themselves. Why did they hire a stripper to their drinking party? Just another bunch of rich spoiled kids who thought they could do anything they wished without consequences since it was poor black women involved. (see, it's all the players fault)
• I think that the main point of this whole sordid episode is that you or I could be maliciously charged with a serious crime and railroaded by a prosecutor with a hidden agenda. Then expand this to the niceties of the Patriot Act and habeas corpus, and a nice stay in sunny Gitmo. With the discredited US Attorneys thrown in, it seems that justice has taken an interesting twist under the dubya regime. (save us, Howard Dean, save us! You really just have to love how they link a rogue Democratic DA to the "Bush regime")

That was page one. Six more pages of that are available.

Meanwhile, WRAL is reporting on the potential lawsuits, as well as Nifong appearing before the State Bar.

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