U.S. EMBASSY GAGS U.S. NAVY PROBERS
‘Nicole’ weeps as witness tells how GIs dumped her
By Tarra V. Quismundo - -Inquirer
MORE THAN an hour into the testimony of a prosecution witness yesterday, the Filipino woman who accused four US Marines of rape tearfully left the courtroom of the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 139.
The alleged rape victim, identified in media only as “Nicole”, walked out embraced by her brother at 2:25 p.m. and returned 30 minutes later, after businessman Joseph Khonghun had finished testifying on direct examination.
She had earlier wept several times and cried out loud at one point as Khonghun went about retelling for the court what he witnessed on the night of Nov. 1, 2005.
It was the third time Nicole broke down in court since the trial began on June 2 in the sala of Judge Benjamin Pozon.
With roughly 40 prosecution witnesses to go and at least seven defense witnesses to be presented, the court has until Dec. 27 to decide the rape case, based on a provision of the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
Pozon has issued an order declaring Dec. 27, 2005, as the start of the countdown for the one-year period that the controversial agreement prescribes for Philippine courts to decide cases against US servicemen.
On that date, the rape case against Staff Sgt. Chad Brian Carpentier and Lance Corporals Keith Silkwood, Dominic Duplantis and Daniel Smith was elevated to the Olongapo Regional Trial Court, the first court to handle it.
Pozon released the order on Wednesday afternoon, in response to the private prosecution’s motion for the court’s clarification on the prescribed one-year period.
The judge favored the defense’s contention that “judicial proceedings” under the VFA meant proceedings started when the case was filed in court.
He rejected the private prosecutors’ claim that the judicial proceedings began only on April 28, when the accused were arraigned.
Unendurable
Nicole, 22, who accused the four Americans of conspiring to rape her in a moving van at the Subic Bay Freeport, found Khonghun’s narration of her ordeal simply too hard to endure.
The 51-year-old Olongapo-based contractor was among those who saw Nicole being unloaded by Americans from a Kia Starex van at around 11:30 p.m. on Nov. 1, 2005, at the Alava Pier.
He was the first person on record to speak to Nicole minutes after the alleged rape, and was the first to testify to her first statements after the Americans allegedly left her at the pier.
“The taller American was holding her legs, while the shorter American was holding the upper part of the body, particularly the arm ... Then they put her down on the pavement,” Khonghun said, testifying in fluent English.
He later identified the taller one as Silkwood and the shorter one as Smith, the soldier who said he had consensual sex with Nicole.
Liberty’s end
This was part of Khonghun’s account of what transpired on the night of Nov. 1:
Khonghun and seven others were at the seawall of the Alava Pier to watch American servicemen board the USS Essex at the end of “liberty,” a furlough granted to US soldiers who had engaged in the RP-US war games “Talon Vision.”
The businessman had driven his company in a van to the pier after dining at Pier 1, a restaurant roughly a kilometer away from where the ship was docked. He parked his van at a lot beside the Subic Telecom office, a short walk from the seawall.
Khonghun and his group were standing at the seawall, about 15 to 10 meters away from the parking lot, when they saw a dark-colored Starex van stop behind his van.
He saw an African-American, whom he later identified as Duplantis, walk out of the van a bit wobbly. The man walked to the curb and sat there.
Another man, later identified as Silkwood, alighted next.
Said Khonghun: “A bottle of beer was in his hand. He then emptied [the bottle and] and threw [it] on the pavement. He then returned to the van and I saw him holding both legs of a person.
“The other end [of the woman] was supported by another Caucasian,” later identified as Smith.
Feet first
Asked to demonstrate, the witness said Smith carried the woman under her armpits, while Silkwood held her behind her legs near her ankles.
With her pants pulled down below her knees, the woman was carried out of the van feet first.
Nicole had barely recovered from her initial weeping when Khonghun was asked to identify the woman he saw being unloaded from the van.
The complainant mustered her strength to rise and identify herself.
When asked what happened next, Khonghun said the van drove away as soon as the Americans had unloaded the woman.
The servicemen then ran toward the ship, leaving the woman lying on the pavement.
“I saw her sitting around four feet away from the right side of the rear portion of [my] van, a little bit trying to reach her pants with both her hands,” said Khonghun.
No mention of rape
In grilling Khonghun, defense lawyers wondered why Nicole made no mention of rape in encountering apparently the first person to find her after she had been dumped by her alleged abusers.
“She did not say that,” the witness said in replying to Silkwood counsel Jose Justiniano, who had asked if he recalled Nicole saying anything then about a rape.
Another series of questions posed by Smith counsel Benjamin Formoso also made Khonghun declare that “she was not complaining” when he saw her.
Carpentier lawyer Francisco Rodrigo led an attack on Khonghun’s credibility and motive for testifying, asking him why he made a sworn statement on what he supposedly saw “six and a half months” after the incident.
“Because nobody had asked me [until then],” the businessman said.
Khonghun was the fourth witness to be presented by the prosecution.
Tony Ramos, an agent of the US Naval Criminal Investigative Service, appeared in court yesterday to tell the court he could not testify on grounds of diplomatic immunity. With a report from Volt Contreras
= = = = =
Philippines Officials Say U.S. Embassy Obstructing Marine Rape Trial
MANILA, Philippines — Prosecutors in a rape trial involving four U.S. Marines accused the U.S. Embassy on Wednesday of delaying the proceedings by refusing to allow American Navy investigators to testify.
The judge in the case ordered the embassy to explain the situation after a U.S. Navy investigator who testified for the prosecution Monday was barred from appearing again Wednesday.
The U.S. government said Thursday diplomatic immunity prevented American Navy investigators from testifying. "There are issues of diplomatic immunity ... concerning the appearance and testimony of diplomatic personnel in court," the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.
The statement said the U.S. government has worked with Philippine authorities under the Visiting Forces Agreement throughout the investigation and will continue to do so until the end of proceedings.
Prosecutors allege Lance Cpl. Smith raped a 22-year-old Filipino woman on Nov. 1, while the others — Lance Cpl. Keith Silkwood, Lance Cpl. Dominic Duplantis and Staff Sgt. Chad Carpentier — cheered him on.
The rape charges are punishable by up to 40 years in prison. The Marines have refused to answer the charges, and the judge entered a plea of innocent for them.
U.S. Navy Criminal Investigation Service agent Ronald Veltz testified Monday that the driver of a van in which the alleged rape occurred told him the servicemen were indeed with the woman that night.
Veltz had been scheduled for cross-examination Wednesday, and a second Navy investigator was expected to testify.
But prosecutor Emilie Delos Santos said the U.S. Embassy told the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department that the investigators had diplomatic immunity and were not authorized by Washington to testify in the case.
"They are delaying the proceedings in this case," Delos Santos told the court.
The session adjourned after Judge Benjamin Pozon ordered the U.S. Embassy to explain why it was invoking diplomatic immunity for Navy investigators.
"This constitutes an affront to the powers of this court and the sovereignty of this country," Evalyn Ursua, a lawyer for the woman, told the court.
"The U.S. government is in violation of its commitment under the Visiting Forces Agreement. This is an attempt to obstruct justice," Ursua said.
The 1999 agreement has a provision that lets U.S. authorities hold servicemen facing a criminal case, and the U.S. Embassy has refused to turn over the Marines to Philippine police.
The Marines had finished counterterrorism maneuvers with Filipino troops when the alleged rape occurred at the former U.S. Subic Bay Naval base near Olongapo city, west of Manila.
The trial has stirred strong emotions in the former American colony, with a handful of anti-U.S. protesters regularly shouting slogans and carrying signs outside court.
FoxNews
= = = = =
U.S. EMBASSY GAGS U.S. NAVY PROBERS
MANILA (STAR) Prosecutors in the rape trial of four US Marines said yesterday that the US Embassy had refused to allow American Navy investigators to testify, dealing a setback to efforts to speed up the proceedings.
A US Navy investigator testified for the prosecution on Monday but was barred from appearing again yesterday, the prosecutors said, and the judge in the trial ordered the embassy to explain why.
US Embassy officials could not immediately be reached for comment as to why the investigator failed to show up.
Prosecutors allege that Lance Cpl. Smith raped a 22-year-old Filipino woman on Nov. 1, while the others — Lance Cpl. Keith Silkwood, Lance Cpl. Dominic Duplantis and Staff Sgt. Chad Carpentier — cheered him on.
The rape charges are punishable by up to 40 years in jail. The Marines have refused to answer the charges and the judge entered a plea of innocent for them.
On Monday, US Navy Criminal Investigation Service agent Ronald Veltz testified at the Makati City regional trial court that the driver of a van in which the woman was allegedly raped told him the servicemen were indeed with the woman — identified only as "Nicole" — on that night.
Veltz, a prosecution witness, said that Filipino driver Timoteo Soriano drew a sketch showing Smith and the woman seated at the back of the van.
Veltz was scheduled to be cross-examined yesterday and a second Navy investigator was expected to testify, but government prosecutor Emilie de los Santos said the US Embassy informed them they had no clearance from Washington to allow the investigators to appear.
It wasn’t clear why Veltz was allowed to testify on Monday.
"They are delaying the proceedings in this case," De los Santos told reporters.
The session adjourned after Judge Benjamin Pozon ordered the US Embassy to explain why it was invoking diplomatic immunity for the Navy investigators.
"We submit that the US government is in violation of its commitment under the Visiting Forces Agreement. This is an attempt to obstruct justice," said Evalyn Ursua, a lawyer for the woman.
"This constitutes an affront to the powers of this court and the sovereignty of this country," she said.
The testimony of the NCIS agents, Ursua earlier revealed, seek to prove that there was sexual intercourse between Smith and the victim though the American soldier claims it was consensual.
"They’re obviously taking care of their own, protecting its marines. As we have said before, this process is subject to the sovereign will of the US government," Ursua said.
According to her, invoking diplomatic immunity shows that the VFA is a stumbling block to the criminal justice system.
The 1999 agreement governs the conduct of US military exercises in the country.
The embassy has refused to turn over the Marines to Philippine police, citing a provision under the agreement that lets US authorities retain custody of servicemen facing criminal cases.
The Marines had finished counterterrorism maneuvers with Filipino troops when the alleged rape occurred at the former US Subic Bay Naval base near Olongapo city, west of Manila.
The trial has stirred emotions in the former American colony, with a handful of anti-US protesters accompanying the proceedings. — AFP, Michael Punongbayan
= = = = =
US investigators barred from Philippine rape trial
MANILA, (AFP) - US navy investigators who looked into rape allegations against four US Marines in the Philippines were barred by the US embassy from testifying in the trial of the four, lawyers said Wednesday.
The move is a "clear attempt on the part of the US government, to keep us from getting the evidence that we need and from showing the court the truth," said Evalyn Ursua, who represents the 22-year-old alleged victim.
She charged that the barring was intended to keep the navy investigators from revealing embarassing details about the case. The US embassy said it would issue a statement on the matter later.
Reporters were barred from a hearing at which the court asked the US embassy to explain whether the navy investigators were covered by diplomatic immunity.
The unnamed Filipina, who made the accusations, was present but did not make any statement afterwards.
The woman charges that she was raped by one of four US Marines after she met them in a bar in the former US naval base of Subic in November. The Americans however, say the sex was consensual.
The defendants remain in the custody of the US embassy after their lawyers successfully fended off a bid by Philippine government prosecutors to have them arrested by police during their arraignment in April.
Ursua complained they were being allowed to stay in a luxury hotel and were not held in the embassy itself.
The alleged rape has triggered anti-American street protests in the former US colony.
MORE THAN an hour into the testimony of a prosecution witness yesterday, the Filipino woman who accused four US Marines of rape tearfully left the courtroom of the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 139.
The alleged rape victim, identified in media only as “Nicole”, walked out embraced by her brother at 2:25 p.m. and returned 30 minutes later, after businessman Joseph Khonghun had finished testifying on direct examination.
She had earlier wept several times and cried out loud at one point as Khonghun went about retelling for the court what he witnessed on the night of Nov. 1, 2005.
It was the third time Nicole broke down in court since the trial began on June 2 in the sala of Judge Benjamin Pozon.
With roughly 40 prosecution witnesses to go and at least seven defense witnesses to be presented, the court has until Dec. 27 to decide the rape case, based on a provision of the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
Pozon has issued an order declaring Dec. 27, 2005, as the start of the countdown for the one-year period that the controversial agreement prescribes for Philippine courts to decide cases against US servicemen.
On that date, the rape case against Staff Sgt. Chad Brian Carpentier and Lance Corporals Keith Silkwood, Dominic Duplantis and Daniel Smith was elevated to the Olongapo Regional Trial Court, the first court to handle it.
Pozon released the order on Wednesday afternoon, in response to the private prosecution’s motion for the court’s clarification on the prescribed one-year period.
The judge favored the defense’s contention that “judicial proceedings” under the VFA meant proceedings started when the case was filed in court.
He rejected the private prosecutors’ claim that the judicial proceedings began only on April 28, when the accused were arraigned.
Unendurable
Nicole, 22, who accused the four Americans of conspiring to rape her in a moving van at the Subic Bay Freeport, found Khonghun’s narration of her ordeal simply too hard to endure.
The 51-year-old Olongapo-based contractor was among those who saw Nicole being unloaded by Americans from a Kia Starex van at around 11:30 p.m. on Nov. 1, 2005, at the Alava Pier.
He was the first person on record to speak to Nicole minutes after the alleged rape, and was the first to testify to her first statements after the Americans allegedly left her at the pier.
“The taller American was holding her legs, while the shorter American was holding the upper part of the body, particularly the arm ... Then they put her down on the pavement,” Khonghun said, testifying in fluent English.
He later identified the taller one as Silkwood and the shorter one as Smith, the soldier who said he had consensual sex with Nicole.
Liberty’s end
This was part of Khonghun’s account of what transpired on the night of Nov. 1:
Khonghun and seven others were at the seawall of the Alava Pier to watch American servicemen board the USS Essex at the end of “liberty,” a furlough granted to US soldiers who had engaged in the RP-US war games “Talon Vision.”
The businessman had driven his company in a van to the pier after dining at Pier 1, a restaurant roughly a kilometer away from where the ship was docked. He parked his van at a lot beside the Subic Telecom office, a short walk from the seawall.
Khonghun and his group were standing at the seawall, about 15 to 10 meters away from the parking lot, when they saw a dark-colored Starex van stop behind his van.
He saw an African-American, whom he later identified as Duplantis, walk out of the van a bit wobbly. The man walked to the curb and sat there.
Another man, later identified as Silkwood, alighted next.
Said Khonghun: “A bottle of beer was in his hand. He then emptied [the bottle and] and threw [it] on the pavement. He then returned to the van and I saw him holding both legs of a person.
“The other end [of the woman] was supported by another Caucasian,” later identified as Smith.
Feet first
Asked to demonstrate, the witness said Smith carried the woman under her armpits, while Silkwood held her behind her legs near her ankles.
With her pants pulled down below her knees, the woman was carried out of the van feet first.
Nicole had barely recovered from her initial weeping when Khonghun was asked to identify the woman he saw being unloaded from the van.
The complainant mustered her strength to rise and identify herself.
When asked what happened next, Khonghun said the van drove away as soon as the Americans had unloaded the woman.
The servicemen then ran toward the ship, leaving the woman lying on the pavement.
“I saw her sitting around four feet away from the right side of the rear portion of [my] van, a little bit trying to reach her pants with both her hands,” said Khonghun.
No mention of rape
In grilling Khonghun, defense lawyers wondered why Nicole made no mention of rape in encountering apparently the first person to find her after she had been dumped by her alleged abusers.
“She did not say that,” the witness said in replying to Silkwood counsel Jose Justiniano, who had asked if he recalled Nicole saying anything then about a rape.
Another series of questions posed by Smith counsel Benjamin Formoso also made Khonghun declare that “she was not complaining” when he saw her.
Carpentier lawyer Francisco Rodrigo led an attack on Khonghun’s credibility and motive for testifying, asking him why he made a sworn statement on what he supposedly saw “six and a half months” after the incident.
“Because nobody had asked me [until then],” the businessman said.
Khonghun was the fourth witness to be presented by the prosecution.
Tony Ramos, an agent of the US Naval Criminal Investigative Service, appeared in court yesterday to tell the court he could not testify on grounds of diplomatic immunity. With a report from Volt Contreras
= = = = =
Philippines Officials Say U.S. Embassy Obstructing Marine Rape Trial
MANILA, Philippines — Prosecutors in a rape trial involving four U.S. Marines accused the U.S. Embassy on Wednesday of delaying the proceedings by refusing to allow American Navy investigators to testify.
The judge in the case ordered the embassy to explain the situation after a U.S. Navy investigator who testified for the prosecution Monday was barred from appearing again Wednesday.
The U.S. government said Thursday diplomatic immunity prevented American Navy investigators from testifying. "There are issues of diplomatic immunity ... concerning the appearance and testimony of diplomatic personnel in court," the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.
The statement said the U.S. government has worked with Philippine authorities under the Visiting Forces Agreement throughout the investigation and will continue to do so until the end of proceedings.
Prosecutors allege Lance Cpl. Smith raped a 22-year-old Filipino woman on Nov. 1, while the others — Lance Cpl. Keith Silkwood, Lance Cpl. Dominic Duplantis and Staff Sgt. Chad Carpentier — cheered him on.
The rape charges are punishable by up to 40 years in prison. The Marines have refused to answer the charges, and the judge entered a plea of innocent for them.
U.S. Navy Criminal Investigation Service agent Ronald Veltz testified Monday that the driver of a van in which the alleged rape occurred told him the servicemen were indeed with the woman that night.
Veltz had been scheduled for cross-examination Wednesday, and a second Navy investigator was expected to testify.
But prosecutor Emilie Delos Santos said the U.S. Embassy told the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department that the investigators had diplomatic immunity and were not authorized by Washington to testify in the case.
"They are delaying the proceedings in this case," Delos Santos told the court.
The session adjourned after Judge Benjamin Pozon ordered the U.S. Embassy to explain why it was invoking diplomatic immunity for Navy investigators.
"This constitutes an affront to the powers of this court and the sovereignty of this country," Evalyn Ursua, a lawyer for the woman, told the court.
"The U.S. government is in violation of its commitment under the Visiting Forces Agreement. This is an attempt to obstruct justice," Ursua said.
The 1999 agreement has a provision that lets U.S. authorities hold servicemen facing a criminal case, and the U.S. Embassy has refused to turn over the Marines to Philippine police.
The Marines had finished counterterrorism maneuvers with Filipino troops when the alleged rape occurred at the former U.S. Subic Bay Naval base near Olongapo city, west of Manila.
The trial has stirred strong emotions in the former American colony, with a handful of anti-U.S. protesters regularly shouting slogans and carrying signs outside court.
FoxNews
= = = = =
U.S. EMBASSY GAGS U.S. NAVY PROBERS
MANILA (STAR) Prosecutors in the rape trial of four US Marines said yesterday that the US Embassy had refused to allow American Navy investigators to testify, dealing a setback to efforts to speed up the proceedings.
A US Navy investigator testified for the prosecution on Monday but was barred from appearing again yesterday, the prosecutors said, and the judge in the trial ordered the embassy to explain why.
US Embassy officials could not immediately be reached for comment as to why the investigator failed to show up.
Prosecutors allege that Lance Cpl. Smith raped a 22-year-old Filipino woman on Nov. 1, while the others — Lance Cpl. Keith Silkwood, Lance Cpl. Dominic Duplantis and Staff Sgt. Chad Carpentier — cheered him on.
The rape charges are punishable by up to 40 years in jail. The Marines have refused to answer the charges and the judge entered a plea of innocent for them.
On Monday, US Navy Criminal Investigation Service agent Ronald Veltz testified at the Makati City regional trial court that the driver of a van in which the woman was allegedly raped told him the servicemen were indeed with the woman — identified only as "Nicole" — on that night.
Veltz, a prosecution witness, said that Filipino driver Timoteo Soriano drew a sketch showing Smith and the woman seated at the back of the van.
Veltz was scheduled to be cross-examined yesterday and a second Navy investigator was expected to testify, but government prosecutor Emilie de los Santos said the US Embassy informed them they had no clearance from Washington to allow the investigators to appear.
It wasn’t clear why Veltz was allowed to testify on Monday.
"They are delaying the proceedings in this case," De los Santos told reporters.
The session adjourned after Judge Benjamin Pozon ordered the US Embassy to explain why it was invoking diplomatic immunity for the Navy investigators.
"We submit that the US government is in violation of its commitment under the Visiting Forces Agreement. This is an attempt to obstruct justice," said Evalyn Ursua, a lawyer for the woman.
"This constitutes an affront to the powers of this court and the sovereignty of this country," she said.
The testimony of the NCIS agents, Ursua earlier revealed, seek to prove that there was sexual intercourse between Smith and the victim though the American soldier claims it was consensual.
"They’re obviously taking care of their own, protecting its marines. As we have said before, this process is subject to the sovereign will of the US government," Ursua said.
According to her, invoking diplomatic immunity shows that the VFA is a stumbling block to the criminal justice system.
The 1999 agreement governs the conduct of US military exercises in the country.
The embassy has refused to turn over the Marines to Philippine police, citing a provision under the agreement that lets US authorities retain custody of servicemen facing criminal cases.
The Marines had finished counterterrorism maneuvers with Filipino troops when the alleged rape occurred at the former US Subic Bay Naval base near Olongapo city, west of Manila.
The trial has stirred emotions in the former American colony, with a handful of anti-US protesters accompanying the proceedings. — AFP, Michael Punongbayan
= = = = =
US investigators barred from Philippine rape trial
MANILA, (AFP) - US navy investigators who looked into rape allegations against four US Marines in the Philippines were barred by the US embassy from testifying in the trial of the four, lawyers said Wednesday.
The move is a "clear attempt on the part of the US government, to keep us from getting the evidence that we need and from showing the court the truth," said Evalyn Ursua, who represents the 22-year-old alleged victim.
She charged that the barring was intended to keep the navy investigators from revealing embarassing details about the case. The US embassy said it would issue a statement on the matter later.
Reporters were barred from a hearing at which the court asked the US embassy to explain whether the navy investigators were covered by diplomatic immunity.
The unnamed Filipina, who made the accusations, was present but did not make any statement afterwards.
The woman charges that she was raped by one of four US Marines after she met them in a bar in the former US naval base of Subic in November. The Americans however, say the sex was consensual.
The defendants remain in the custody of the US embassy after their lawyers successfully fended off a bid by Philippine government prosecutors to have them arrested by police during their arraignment in April.
Ursua complained they were being allowed to stay in a luxury hotel and were not held in the embassy itself.
The alleged rape has triggered anti-American street protests in the former US colony.
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