Court verdict on 4 US marines out on Dec. 4
Pleading for more time, Makati trial judge Benjamin Pozon has reset for December 4 this afternoon's scheduled promulgation of judgment on four U.S. marines accused of raping a Filipino woman on Nov. 1 last year at the Subic Freeport.
The case against L/Cpls Daniel Smith, Keith Silkwood, Dominic Duplants and S/Sgt. Chad Carpentier went on trial from June 2 to October 5 this year before Pozon's Branch 139 of the Makati Regional Trial Court.
The 23-year old alleged victim, named "Nicole," charged the four of conspiring to rape her inside a moving van that was rushing to take the marines back to their embarked ship in Subic Bay before their midnight curfew.
Pozon himself had set November 27 deadline for the sentencing at the final hearing on the case in October 5.
But in a last-minute interim order issued last Friday, Pozon expressed he needed more time, that in order "to render a fair and just decision, the court is constrained, much to its regret, to reset the promulgation of judgment in this case on December 4 at 1 p.m."
The order noted the court's "limited time (just six weeks from October 5) for it to intelligently and judiciously consider the significant and material issues raised by the prosecution and the defense."
A total 23 witnesses were presented by the prosecution and six by the defense in near-daily afternoon hearings of the case.
Both the prosecution and defense did not oppose the Friday action of the court.
The four accused are in custody of the U.S. embassy in Manila, allowed in the provisions of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
They were participants in a two-week joint military exercises with Filipino counterparts which are under the umbrella of the VFA when the incident occurred.
The terms of the VFA allowed for Philippine custody of the accused had the proceedings not been completed within one year of the incident.
Pozon, however, had barely seven months to try the case because it dragged as it moved from the jurisdiction of Olongapo City, where it was alleged to have occurred, to supposedly neutral Makati City.
It is not clear yet what possible charges or sanctions the accused could face in the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC).
If found innocent, Smith, who insisted he did not rape Nicole but had consensual sex with the woman, said he will go on leave from the military and join his family and friends in the United States. (PNA)
The case against L/Cpls Daniel Smith, Keith Silkwood, Dominic Duplants and S/Sgt. Chad Carpentier went on trial from June 2 to October 5 this year before Pozon's Branch 139 of the Makati Regional Trial Court.
The 23-year old alleged victim, named "Nicole," charged the four of conspiring to rape her inside a moving van that was rushing to take the marines back to their embarked ship in Subic Bay before their midnight curfew.
Pozon himself had set November 27 deadline for the sentencing at the final hearing on the case in October 5.
But in a last-minute interim order issued last Friday, Pozon expressed he needed more time, that in order "to render a fair and just decision, the court is constrained, much to its regret, to reset the promulgation of judgment in this case on December 4 at 1 p.m."
The order noted the court's "limited time (just six weeks from October 5) for it to intelligently and judiciously consider the significant and material issues raised by the prosecution and the defense."
A total 23 witnesses were presented by the prosecution and six by the defense in near-daily afternoon hearings of the case.
Both the prosecution and defense did not oppose the Friday action of the court.
The four accused are in custody of the U.S. embassy in Manila, allowed in the provisions of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
They were participants in a two-week joint military exercises with Filipino counterparts which are under the umbrella of the VFA when the incident occurred.
The terms of the VFA allowed for Philippine custody of the accused had the proceedings not been completed within one year of the incident.
Pozon, however, had barely seven months to try the case because it dragged as it moved from the jurisdiction of Olongapo City, where it was alleged to have occurred, to supposedly neutral Makati City.
It is not clear yet what possible charges or sanctions the accused could face in the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC).
If found innocent, Smith, who insisted he did not rape Nicole but had consensual sex with the woman, said he will go on leave from the military and join his family and friends in the United States. (PNA)
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
6:58 AM
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