(Update) Expert: Nicole's injuries indicate sexual assault

A forensic pathologist called forth by the prosecution as an expert witness in the Subic rape trial testified Tuesday that injuries sustained by the 22-year-old complainant were consistent with sexual assault. Doctor Raquel Fortun told the Makati court that contusions on the private parts of “Nicole" (not her real name) indicated that it was “the result of forcible penetration of opening of the vagina." Fortun said the injuries could have been caused while the woman was “not relaxed and resisting...increasing the probability of injury if the vaginal opening [was] not receptive to [the] thrusts of [the] penis." The forensic pathologist also cast doubt on the accuracy of a police test that indicated no semen was found on the alleged victim's underwear and the used condom found on her pants. Fortun also testified that the “Florence test" used by the Philippine National Police was a "very very old" method and no longer used in modern crime laboratories. She said the Florence test does not give specific results and would produce positive results even from vegetables, mucous and saliva. She added that the presence of contaminants such as excrement, pus, blood and chemicals may produce a negative result as these prevent a reaction. Four US marines – Lance Corporals Daniel Smith, Dominic Duplantis and Keith Silkwood and Staff Sergeant Chad Carpentier – all stand as principal accused in the alleged rape of the Filipino woman in Subic last November. The defense has maintained that Smith had consensual sex with Nicole. Prosecution lawyer Evalyn Ursua, meanwhile, defended Fortun from the moves of the defense panel to discredit her as an expert witness. Ursua told GMA's DZBB radio taht Fortun’s position as a consultant of the Philippine General Hospital Women’s Desk and the Child Protection Unit does not mean that she can no longer be considered an expert in her field because she was biased. She said the likes of Fortun who were serving at the Child Protection Unit were the most respected in the field of dealing with child sexual abuse. b>-GMANews.TV