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Smith could face court-martial after release, DILG says


MANILA, Philippines - He may already be a free man, but Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith may still have to face court-martial proceedings, according to Interior and Local Government undersecretary Marius Corpus. Corpus said Smith, like his three companions, Lance Cpls. Keith Silkwood and Dominic Duplantis and Staff Sergeant Chad Carpentier, might face a military court at the US bases in Japan. The four belong to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Force stationed in Okinawa. Silkwood, Duplantis, and Carpentier were the companions of Smith when the later supposedly raped Suzette Nicolas a.k.a. Nicole inside a moving Starex van at the Alava Pier in Subic, Zambales. Though the three were acquitted of the supposed crime, Carpentier, the platoon leader, was dishonorably discharged from his post, while Silkwood and Duplantis were less than honorably discharged, according to Corpus, “Smith may soon be a free man, but his legal ordeal may not be over yet since he may still have to deal with the court martial," Corpus, chairman of the inspection team formed by Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno to oversee Smith's custody, said in a statement released to media on Friday. A court-martial refers to a military or naval court of officers that could try persons for offenses under military law. Corpus said that when he last visited Smith in March, he noticed that the US Marine officer was gaining weight. On Thursday, April 23, the Philippine Court of Appeals acquitted Smith of raping Nicolas. The CA reversed and set aside the December 4, 2006 decision of the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 139 convicting Smith of rape and sentencing him to 40 years in prison. - GMANews.TV
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