Cabbie's Testimony in Duke Case Wins Him Award

Moezeldin Elmostafa, the Durham cabbie whose testimony offered an alibi for wrongly-accused Duke lacrosse players, was voted the 2008 Hero of the Year by Reader's Digest readers.

Elmostafa drove two young men home from a party to the Duke University campus on March 14, 2006. He later agreed to testify that one of the accused -- Reade Seligmann -- was in his cab at the purported time of the assault. He swore out an affidavit and produced the cell phone bill that listed Seligmann’s call requesting a cab.

After he committed to help Seligman, Elmostafa was arrested on a charge relating to a minor crime. He believed it was to scare him off the defense’s case. Both Elmostafa and Seligmann were eventually cleared of all charges.