Trial Of Four U.S. Servicemen Accused Of Raping A Filipina Resumes

Komfie Manalo - All Headline News Foreign Correspondent

Makati City, Philippines (AHN) - The trial for the four U.S. servicemen accused of raping a Filipino woman, inside a former American base in northern Philippines, resumes today.

The marathon trial will start with the resumption of testimonies of Dr. Rolando Ortiz II, medico-legal for the Philippine National Police, after a two-week break.

Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 139 Judge Benjamin Pozon set August 17 as the date for the resumption of trial and was agreed upon by both the prosecution and the defense.

The trial was suspended for 16 days on August 1 after the prosecution panel sought the break, arguing that Ortiz would be unavailable for two weeks because of an undisclosed illness.

Ortiz, also a criminology professor, was the one who examined "Nicole" at the James Gordon Memorial Hospital in Olongapo City 33 hours after the reported rape. "Nicole" is the court-appointed name for the 22-year-old victim.

The woman is accusing U.S. Lance Corporal Daniel Smith of raping her inside a moving Kia Starex van while they were cruising Subic Bay Freeport, which was a former naval base of the U.S.

She said Smith's three companions Lance Corporals Keith Silkwood and Domnic Suplantis and Staff Sergent Chad Carpentier was cheering him on during the act