US Marine testifies: I could hear kissing, moaning, laughter in van

The last of the four US Marines on trial for allegedly raping a Filipina took the witness stand yesterday and testified that their accuser had consensual sex with one of them in the van where the alleged rape took place.

"I could hear kissing, moaning, laughter coming from the van," Lance Corporal Dominic Duplantis, 21, told defense lawyer Enrico Oyehara on direct examination.

He said he saw the woman, known in the media only as "Nicole," with Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, the prime suspect, in the back of the vehicle as they headed back to their ship after visiting a bar in the former US naval base in Subic, Zambales.

"I really didn’t think anything of it," Duplantis said, adding that he did not meet the woman nor saw her with Smith inside Neptune Club on the night of Nov. 1, 2005, before the alleged rape.

He and the others visited a bar, Deweys, before going to Neptune Club.

When it was time to go back to the ship to beat a midnight curfew, he said he proceeded to the van where he saw a "Filipina female I did not know" and a "Filipino driver I did not know."

"I didn’t know who she was," Duplantis told Oyehara, adding that the ride to the Alaba Pier from the Neptune Club took about 15 minutes.

He also told the court about how the van stopped at a pizza place supposedly to pick up Lance Corporals Albert Lara and Corey Burris but the two decided to walk back to the ship.

Duplantis said he walked straight to the gate of the Alaba Pier to get to the ship after alighting from the van and did not notice what happened afterwards.

He also testified that he, Smith, Lara, and Burris went out again the following day and visited Deweys and Neptune Club, only to be told later that they were being accused of gang rape.

On cross-examination, Senior State Prosecutor Emilie Fe de los Santos asked Duplantis to clarify his statement that Smith and the woman he was with were kissing and being playful.

In response, Duplantis said he meant typical kissing and playfulness and that he observed Smith "on top of the girl humping."

De los Santos asked if Duplantis called the attention of Carpentier who was seated at the front passenger seat beside the driver when he saw what he saw and Duplantis said he didn’t.

Duplantis also admitted on cross-examination that he drank several bottles of beer that day and agreed that he could have had 13 bottles at most since Silkwood, who testified last Thursday, described him to be the "most drunk" among them that night.

Judge Benjamin Pozon said he originally planned to decide on the case before Nov. 1, almost a year after the alleged rape.

The prosecution said it intends to present three rebuttal witnesses while the defense plans to present one witness after they cross- examine one of the prosecution’s expert witnesses, Dr. Teresita Sanchez, on Monday.

STAR sources said the prosecution intends to present Nicole and Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) special agent Guy Papageorge on rebuttal while the defense’s unnamed witness is a "disinterested witness who observed Smith and Nicole inside the Neptune Club" on the night of the alleged rape.

Pozon also informed both camps that Nicole and her private lawyer filed a manifestation before the court to express their loss of confidence in government prosecutors handling the case.

"In their prayer, all that they ask is for it to be noted so it’s noted," he told the prosecution and the defense.

Nicole’s camp wants the government prosecutors replaced after they allegedly proposed to settle the case out of court.

Nicole’s mother had claimed that De los Santos told her that unless they drop the charges in exchange for a settlement, the case will allegedly be used for a "tradeoff" for the extradition of former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante.

Bolante, detained since July on charges of trying to enter the United States without a valid visa, is fighting extradition. — With Jose Rodel Clapano