Sunday, September 10, 2006
US Marine accused of rape to deny charges in court: lawyer (3:35 p.m.)
MANILA -- A 21-year-old US Marine charged with raping a Filipino woman is set to testify in court that he had consensual sex with his accuser, his lawyer said Sunday.
Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, of St. Louis, Missouri, will take the witness stand Monday at the start of defense lawyers' presentation of witnesses in the rape case against Smith and three other US Marines.
"He will definitely testify tomorrow (Monday) and he will insist that there was really no rape... contrary to what the complainant has been saying," said Benjamin Formoso, Smith's lawyer. "He is prepared and raring to testify."
Formoso said Smith will stick to his defense that what happened was consensual sex.
A 22-year-old woman has accused Smith of raping her in a moving van at the Subic Bay free port, a former US Naval base, on November 1, while Staff Sergeant Chad Carpentier, Lance Corporal Keith Silkwood and Lance Corporal Dominic Duplantis allegedly cheered him on. (AP) |
