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Saturday, September 23, 2006
Ruling on Subic rape case to be handed down before November: judge
MANILA -- A Makati City court hearing the controversial rape case filed by a 23-year-old Filipino woman against four US servicemen has set the resolution of the case before the first anniversary of the alleged incident.
"I am planning to render the decision of this case before the anniversary of this alleged incident," Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) branch 139 Judge Benjamin Pozon told the prosecution and defense panel at the conclusion of the testimony of one of the accused, Lance Corporal Dominic Duplantis, on Friday.
But he clarified that the early resolution of the case will also depend on the actions of both parties, adding that they might file a rebuttal or even additional witnesses.
The defense panel is set to finish its presentation of witnesses and evidence next week after the cross-examination of a forensic gynecologist and the testimony of their last witness on September 28.
The prosecution finished its presentation last month after having paraded a total of 23 witnesses, including the complainant.
The court has been conducting a marathon trial of the case since last June after the arraignment of the accused on April 28 wherein they refused to enter a plea forcing the court to enter a not guilty plea on their behalf.
Pozon earlier manifested his desire to conclude the trial before the one-year prescription period set in as called for under the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
The court has already ruled that the prescription period started on December 27 last year when the charges were formally filed in court although the complainant's camp has challenged the issue before the Supreme Court (SC).
The VFA prescribed limited immunity for US military personnel while undergoing joint training exercises with their Filipino counterparts.
Nicole said Lance Corporal Daniel Smith raped her inside a van at Subic Bay, a former base of the US 7th Fleet, on the night of November 1, 2005 while his companion, Staff Sergeant Chad Brian Carpentier and Lance Corporal Keith Silkwood and Duplantis egged him on.
An hour before Duplantis's testimony, Nicole and her supporters held a small gathering at the front of the court building where the trial was being held to mark her 23rd birthday.
"Good health, peace of mind, justice and a new set of prosecutors," said Nicole when asked about her birthday wish, adding that the most important thing in her mind is to get justice for her "suffering."
She said she and her family here in Manila will attend Mass and then have dinner with friends and supporters from various women's groups.
Nicole's camp has been engaged in a spat with the prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) after she expressed displeasure with their cross-examination of Smith, which she deemed as "too lenient."
She asked Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. to replace the prosecutors as she said they were "incompetent" in handling the case but her appeal was denied.
Duplantis was the last of the four accused to take the stand to buttress the defense's contention that no rape took place and that the act was consensual in nature.
Smith earlier told the court that he indeed had sex with the complainant but that it was consensual.
In his testimony, Duplantis corroborated the testimonies of his colleague, saying that what he saw inside the rented van on the night of the alleged incident was Smith and Nicole kissing and giggling while they were traveling back to the pier where their ship, the amphibious assault ship US Essex was docked.
"I didn't see anything in the van that is unusual. I couldn't tell what was exactly happening for sure but I saw Smith and the woman are actively involved," he said when asked by his counsel, Enrico Uyehara.
Asked to clarify what he meant by "actively involved", he said they were kissing.
He added that the background noises he heard during the 15-minute trip from the Neptune Bar where they met Nicole where that of a couple having sex.
"During the ride I heard background noises coming from the backseat of the van where Smith and her woman companion were sitting, the sounds of kissing, moaning and giggling," he said.
The hearing will resume on Monday with the cross-examination of defense witness Dr. Teresita Sanchez, a forensic gynecologists, who testified last week that there were no injuries on the complainant's inner thigh and knees to suggest she was indeed raped. She said based on experiences and medical literature, the presence of such injuries is indicative of sexual assault.
Meanwhile, Secretary Gonzalez Friday allowed the private counsel of Nicole to actively take part in the trial, in what appeared to be a consolation after junking her birthday wish to overhaul the panel of prosecutors handling the rape case.
"You are directed to allow the private prosecutor to actively participate in the prosecution of the case under the direct control and supervision of your panel," he told the panel in a memorandum.
Gonzalez gave the order to the panel led by Senior State Prosecutor Emilie Fe de los Santos following reports attributed to Attorney Evalyn Ursua, private counsel of the victim, that she will not cooperate unless the state prosecutors were replaced.
"That may be the thinking of the lawyer who is not made to participate. That's why I came out with this memorandum because if the case is lost then the whole blame will be placed on our prosecutors. Even if they did their best, it will not be the judge that will be blamed but the prosecutors, considering the propaganda against my prosecutors now," he said.
Gonzalez pointed out that while Ursua will "represent" the complainant, she will be "under the direct control and supervision of the government prosecutors."
He earlier said he will not allow the complainant's private prosecutors to take part in the prosecution of the case because her work is limited to the "civil" aspect of the case.
Gonzalez said he still has full faith and confidence on the public prosecutors despite the allegations of the complainant and the mother that the state lawyers had offered to settle the rape case in exchange for the immigration case against former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante in the US.
Bolante, alleged architect of the P728 million fertilizer fund scam, is currently detained in the US in connection with his cancelled B1-B2 visa. He is facing arrest warrants issued by the Senate for failing to appear during the committee hearings investigating the agriculture fund anomaly.
The justice department has already ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to look into the allegations of the mother.
Gonzalez said that if the investigations proved that it was the prosecutors who offered to trade the rape case with Bolante's, they would be administratively sanctioned because negotiating the case is beyond their authority.
But if the allegations of Nicole's mother are not true, he said that would be ground for the filing of a libel case against her.
For her birthday, Gonzalez has this to say to Nicole, who turned 23 on Friday: "I wish that she would be a good citizen of this country."
But when GMA-7 reporter Tina Panganiban-Perez pressed Gonzalez what he meant by his comment, the DOJ chief was irked. "I'm not saying that. Don't put words in my mouth. That doesn't mean that I'm saying she's not a good citizen," he said.
"I wish her the best but I also wish her the good sense to understand the prosecution's position," he added, apparently referring to the victim and her mother's spat with the prosecution panel. (AH/ECV/Sunnex)
(September 23, 2006 issue)
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