Van driver listed as defense witness in Subic rape case

The driver of the van where a US Marine allegedly raped a 22-year-old Filipina while three other American soldiers cheered on at the Subic freeport in Zambales last year has been listed as a witness for the defense after spurning the prosecution.

Whether Timoteo Soriano Jr. will take the witness stand will be known on the day he is summoned by the Makati City Regional Trial Court.

Soriano will be presented as the defense’s sixth witness, according to documents obtained by The STAR.

His name appears on the list of possible witnesses which the lawyers of accused Lance Corporals Daniel Smith, Keith Silkwood and Dominic Duplantis and S/Sgt. Chad Carpentier have submitted to the court.

Based on the court’s order, Soriano will be called to the witness stand after the four accused and Dr. Teresita Sanchez, an obstetrician-gynecologist, have testified.

The list also showed that the defense will be presenting two other witnesses, whom they refused to name for the time being.

Soriano, when asked to take the witness stand for the prosecution, refused and invoked his right against self-incrimination, citing two pending cases against him before the Court of Appeals (CA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Raulito Paras, Soriano’s lawyer, said his client said "No" to the prosecution because testifying for them while being accused of involvement in rape as an accomplice, co-accused or a principal accused would "definitely be self-incrimination."

When asked if Soriano will testify for the defense, Paras said it will depend on his client since he may or may not change his mind.

"In all likelihood, you will say that you’re innocent (if someone is forced to testify in court)," he said.

Paras said a person’s right against self-incrimination actually prevents witnesses from committing perjury.

""When he learned of this petition, his wife is crying again," he said. "How can a witness testify if he knows that his wife is profusely crying at home."

Paras said Soriano is worried over what has been happening, especially after the DOJ filed Thursday a petition before Branch 139 Judge Benjamin Pozon asking for his reinstatement as an accused.

"They are making things complicated as far as Soriano is concerned," he said.

Paras said the defense will oppose the petition since Olongapo City Judge Renato Dilag has ruled that Soriano had no participation at all in whatever happened inside the van he was driving on the night of Nov. 1, 2005.

The DOJ and the private complainant are allegedly resorting to what is clearly forum shopping since it is now asking the CA and the lower court "to do one and the same thing," he added.

Meanwhile, State Prosecutor Hazel Valdez, one of those handling the Subic rape case, assured that the DOJ’s move to reinstate Soriano as an accused will not be a cause of delay.

In an interview with The STAR, she allayed fears that the latest development would bring the trial back to square one since the prosecution is already about to rest and make formal offer of evidence before the defense takes its turn to present witnesses.

"We might move for a separate trial," she said.

This will ensure that the case against the US Marines will not be affected, considering that they can only be tried for a period of one year according to the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), she added.

Valdez said the results of the DNA testing on Smith’s blood by the Philippine National Police crime laboratory would not be a problem.

All that is needed is for the prosecution and the defense to agree that the results of the tests would be formally offered as evidence later, he added.

Tomorrow is expected to be the last day that the defense will present witnesses, as Dr. Rolando Ortiz, James L. Gordon Memorial Medical Center medico-legal officer, is recalled by the court for further cross-examination.

Ortiz is being summoned to testify again after the court ruled that he cannot invoke privileged communication in refusing to answer questions relating to the private complainant’s sexual history and other personal information.

Ortiz is being recalled to answer more questions to be fielded by Duplantis’ lawyer, Antonio Rebosa who also happens to be a doctor specializing in forensic medicine.