Defense has ‘anti-Fortun’ witness in Subic rape case

Lawyers of the four American soldiers accused of raping a Filipina are prepared to counter whatever testimony forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun will give the court as a witness for the prosecution.

Benjamin Formoso, lawyer for one of the suspects Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, said the defense will present an obstetrician-gynecologist who is at the same time a forensic expert and a lawyer once it is the defense panel’s turn to present evidence.

Formoso said Dr. Teresita Sanchez will take the witness stand in favor of the accused. She is connected with the Makati Medical Center, the University of Sto. Tomas Hospital, and the Manila Doctors Hospital.

Formoso said Sanchez will be the defense’s counter-witness against Fortun, who claims to be one of only two forensic pathologists in the country today.

"She is an obi-gyn, a forensic doctor, and a lawyer," he told The STAR, adding that she will be among the very few witnesses that the defense will present, as opposed to the prosecution panel’s roster of over 20 witnesses.

Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 139 Judge Benjamin Pozon has yet to rule on whether the court will admit Fortun as an expert witness.

Pozon has asked both the prosecution and the defense to give the court time to study her qualifications based on her direct examination and cross-examination last June 30, as well as her curriculum vitae.

During that hearing, Evalyn Ursua, the complainant’s private counsel, said Formoso and Benjamin Rodrigo, Staff Sergeant Chad Carpentier’s lawyer, also tried to get Fortun as an expert witness.

Defense lawyers grilled Fortun over being a pathologist who mostly examines dead people and not living persons such as the complainant, identified only as "Nicole."

Both the prosecution and the defense are tapping expert witnesses for the interpretation of medico-legal findings to prove or disprove the allegation of rape.

Meanwhile, Formoso said they are also ready for Nicole’s testimony tomorrow as she takes the witness stand.

"We are prepared," he said, but did not say how they will cross-examine her.

So far, the prosecution has presented some 20 witnesses who testified on how Nicole was allegedly invited to visit Subic Freeport, spent time there with her sisters, got drunk at the Neptune Bar, was raped inside a Starex van, and eventually dumped at a parking lot afterwards.

Nicole has been attending the hearings religiously along with the four accused — Smith, Carpentier, and Lance Corporals Keith Silkwood and Dominic Duplantis.

She alleged that Smith raped her inside the van while the other servicemen cheered him on.