Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Nicole recalls 'rape' in testimony
MANILA -- The 22-year-old woman complainant in a rape case against four US servicemen continued her testimony Monday, recalling how she fought off her attacker but he succeeded in raping her while his friends cheered him on.
Prior, however, to the opening of Monday's proceedings, the woman, whose court-appointed pseudonym is Nicole, attacked her alleged rapist, Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, hitting him on the face twice with her handbag. She accused him of trying to trip her when she entered the courtroom.
Smith denied trying to trop Nicole and said it was not the first time that she tried to kick them as she passed by their seats.
Nicole's mother backed her daughter, saying Smith, who was seated with co-accused Staff Sergeant Chad Carpentier and Lance Corporals Keith Silkwood and Dominic Duplantis, did try to trip Nicole.
After the incident, US Embassy staff attending the hearing immediately transferred Smith to another seat while Nicole's lawyer Evelyn Ursua took her to the ladies room to calm her down.
Nicole's psychiatrist, Dr. June Pagaduan-Lopez, said it was the first time the woman showed anger since the start of the hearing and considered the incident "healthy."
Lopez later said her client was "provoked," adding that "Nicole" just couldn't contain her pent-up emotion when she saw the accused and that releasing anger might have been of some help to her client.
The victim's mother was heard even challenging the Americans to a duel.
The incident forced Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 139 Judge Benjamin Pozon to order a change of seating arrangement for the accused. Starting Tuesday, the accused will be seated at the first row of the gallery, usually occupied by the lawyers and the audience.
Pozon reminded everyone to respect the solemnity of the court.
Later in her testimony, Nicole showed anger by cursing her alleged rapists, saying they took advantage of her drunkenness.
Nicole told the court how she tried to fight off Smith but he overpowered her and succeeded in raping her since she was so weak and dizzy after imbibing several drinks earlier ordered for her and her sister, Annaliza, by their US Navy friend, Petty Officer 2 Christopher Mills.
She said while Smith was on top of her kissing her lips, neck, and breast, she heard laughter and music being played but she could not recall where she was at the time.
Her testimony jibed with the first statement given to authorities by Timoteo Soriano, the driver of the Starex van where the alleged assault took place, who said that one of the accused turned on the vehicle's stereo when he tried to ask what was happening after hearing a woman's voice cry out. He later retracted this part of his testimony, saying he was coerced into signing the statement.
Nicole added in her testimony that she lost consciousness during the rape and only regained it when she was already on the ground putting on her pants after being "dumped" by the accused. She added that her last recollection of the incident on the night of November 1, 2005 was of Smith on top of her and she was trying her best to ward him off.
Several witnesses, one of them businessman Joseph Khunghon, who is testifying for the prosecution, said he and another companion, Maria Fe Castro, saw the accused unload the complainant near the Alava Pier.
It was at this point in her testimony that Nicole broke down for the third time, recalling how Castro told the investigators at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Management Authority Law Enforcement Division (LED) that "she was dumped like a pig by the US servicemen."
She first broke down when she recalled how she tried to fight off Smith and the second time when asked by Ursua if she had ever returned to her native Zamboanga since the incident.
Nicole said in tears that she hasn't returned because she was ashamed of what happened and she was aware that some people blamed her for the incident.
After regaining consciousness, Nicole said she and several police officers proceeded to the Neptune Bar to look for Smith but they were unable to find him there.
Asked by Ursua why she was looking for Smith, Nicole said she wanted to curse him for what he had done to her.
She later told the court how she was reunited with her sister, Annaliza, at the Grand Leisure Hotel where they were staying. Her sister had looked for her after they got separated.
While being investigated at the LED office, she recalled how a man he identified as Ben Natividad gave them the option of settling the case or pursuing it. Her sister earlier told the court that Natividad offered them money to settle the case.
The defense said the victim's testimony was not enough to pin the rape charges on Smith and the other accused.
"She was silent on that, all she mentioned was Smith kissing her and the pain in her vagina. She did not actually say there was penetration," Silkwood's counsel Jose Justiniano said, adding he might not subject the complainant to a cross examination since she did not even mention his client.
But he added the complainant's testimony was only circumstantial at best and that the prosecution should present additional evidence to back up its charges.
Nicole is set to finish her direct testimony before the court Tuesday while noted forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun is set to take the witness stand for the prosecution to render her opinion on the medico-legal findings of Dr. Rolando Ortiz who told the court that the contusions sustained by "Nicole" were consistent with that of rape victims.
The victim's cross-examination is set after Fortun's testimony. (AH/Sunnex)
(July 11, 2006 issue)
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