‘Nicole’ attacks suspect in court

With fists and a handbag, "Nicole," the 22-year-old complainant in the Subic rape case, attacked the United States Marine principally accused of raping her five minutes before yesterday’s hearing at the Makati City regional trial court began.

In a fit of rage, Nicole pummeled Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith on his abdomen with her fists and pounded him thrice with her handbag after losing her balance while passing Smith and his three co-accused on the way to the witness stand. Nicole again lost her balance and fell to the ground while attacking Smith.

Court officials, lawyers for the defense and US Embassy personnel quickly rushed in to separate the two, pacify Nicole and protect Smith.

Nicole said Smith had tried to trip her, while Smith denied the allegation during a court recess, telling reporters that Nicole "kicked me in the leg."

After the commotion, the four accused were surrounded by US Embassy personnel and Smith was moved to another bench in the courtroom.

Nicole’s lawyer Evalyn Ursua, her mother and her brother also rushed in to stop the plaintiff, who had to be brought to the bathroom, where they calmed her down.

The mother, seated four seats away from where Smith was transferred, kept hurling invectives at the accused and saying the accused tripped Nicole.

"Sarili mong bayan gagaguhin ka. Walang respeto sa babae. Halata talagang rapist ka eh. Harapan tayo, barilan tayo (You treat us badly in our own country. You have no respect for women. It is obvious you really are a rapist. Let’s do this face to face, let’s shoot it out)," the mother shouted at Smith.

Makati City RTC Branch 139 Judge Benjamin Pozon did not personally witness the incident but, nevertheless, he issued an order to have Smith and his co-accused Lance Cpls. Keith Silkwood and Dominic Duplantis and Staff Sgt. Chad Carpentier transferred to seats that do not block the main isle beginning today.

After talking to all the lawyers in private, Pozon also spoke to Nicole and Smith before announcing that there will be changes in seating arrangements to prevent such incidents from happening again.

Pozon also admonished the prosecution and defense lawyers to monitor their clients so the solemnity of the proceedings will not be marred by such incidents again.

If convicted, the accused face up to 40 years’ imprisonment.

In an interview after the hearing, Ursua said Nicole’s intense anger may have snapped her self-control, prompting the attack on Smith.

However, Ursua opted not to entertain the idea that Smith may have tripped Nicole, as Nicole’s loss of balance may have been an accident.

"I think napuno lang si Nicole. Yung galit niya, inilabas niya (I think Nicole just got fed up. She let her anger out)," Ursua said defending Nicole’s actions as "understandable."

Beginning tomorrow, Smith, Silkwood, Duplantis, and Carpentier will occupy the second, third, fourth, and fifth seats at the first row of the gallery and will be surrounded by security men.

Curses and weeping

Taking the witness stand for the second time after testifying Thursday and suffering severe traumatic stress on Friday which prevented her from coming to court, Nicole again broke into tears several times and cursed the accused as she continued her testimony.

"(Expletive deleted), alam nyong lasing ako nun (you knew I was drunk then," she said, addressing the accused. Nicole then broke into a crying fit, prompting Pozon to call for a 10-minute recess.

The hearing ended 30 minutes earlier than scheduled after Nicole made very emotional remarks that she felt abused.

"Alam ko na alam nila na lasing ako noon, pero wala silang pakialam (I know they knew I was drunk then, but they didn’t care)," Nicole said, prompting Ursua to ask the court to allow her client to rest.

Nicole’s testimony was again a narration of events that took place on the night of Nov. 1, 2005 after she got drunk inside the Neptune Club.

Nicole said she felt Smith’s weight when the accused was on top of her and described how he kissed her on the lips, neck, chest, as well as how he touched her breasts.

She also responded in the negative to questions about how Smith allegedly touched her by shaking her head repeatedly when asked to demonstrate how the accused touched her because she used the term "hinipuan (groped)."

Nicole said she tried to resist by attempting to push Smith away but couldn’t because she was "very weak and he was heavy."

She also recalled shouting and that she heard voices and music. Nicole also said that when she regained consciousness, she was lying on the ground with her pants on backward.

Nicole testified that she returned to Neptune Club after the alleged rape because she wanted to find Smith: "I wanted to curse him. I wanted to kill him at the time because he raped me."

Other witnesses have said they saw Nicole dropped, half-naked, from the van onto a sidewalk.

She also described for the court how she met the other witnesses to the case, was taken to the hospital, issued statements and underwent medical examinations, such as urinalysis.

Nicole said she met Fe Castro, who cried after identifying Nicole as the woman the four accused unloaded from a van "like a pig."

She said she also met Timoteo Soriano, the driver of the van where the alleged rape took place. She also said Soriano promised to help her. She also told the court she met Ben Natividad, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) official who tried to convince her into making an amicable settlement.

Defense lawyers raised a continuing objection to Ursua’s questions on the grounds that Ursua may be trying to prove that the victim was drunk at the time of the alleged sexual assault.

According to them, the charge sheet in the rape case accuses their clients of using force and intimidation but not of intoxicating the private complainant.

Nicole testified Thursday that she was intoxicated while dancing with her sister at the Neptune bar when Smith grabbed her by the wrist to dance.

She also testified that she’d continued to drink and was then forced

out of the bar: "The next thing I remember, someone was lying on top of me. Someone was kissing me... It was Smith."

"I did not like what he was doing to me," she said, before breaking down again.

The session adjourned until Tuesday after Nicole started sobbing when asked by her lawyer if she had gone back to her hometown in Zamboanga.

"No, because I’m ashamed," the woman said. "Because, in the news, they’re already judging me, although it’s not true that I’m a bad person," Nicole said. "They said I was drinking — and what’s wrong with drinking? We went there to enjoy. I did not want this to happen."

The Marines have refused to answer the rape charges, prompting the judge to enter an innocent plea for them. Defense lawyers insist Smith had consensual sex with Nicole. — With AP report