Defense looks at possible mishandling of Subic rape evidence

Defense lawyers at the Subic rape trial stumbled yesterday on a police report showing that the condom allegedly used by Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, one of the four US Marines accused of raping a 22-year-old Filipina last year, contained no seminal fluid.

During cross-examination, the lawyers plucked out the information from Ramon Paje, an investigator of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s Intelligence and Investigation Office.

The lawyers said if the condom did not contain semen, it could mean a lot for the accused since it shows possible mishandling of evidence in the part of SBMA investigators before they were turned over to the Philippine National Police.

Defense lawyers said Paje and the evidence custodian should have done better in taking care of the evidence, which should have been refrigerated.

Jose Justiniano, lawyer of Keith Silkwood, one of the accused US Marines, said the PNP Crime Laboratory report could even mean that there was no sexual contact with the 22-year-old complainant.

"Had there been semen stains found in the condom, it’s very obvious that there was (sexual) contact, but it’s also possible to have contact and not find semen," he said. 

Paje was grilled on the SBMA’s alleged "mistake" when it initially filed rape charges against six US servicemen, instead of four.

After Paje was excused, the prosecution presented Melchor Delikina, 39, another investigator who also had a hand in the probe of the alleged rape. — Michael Punongbayan