US Marine sergeant says Nicole voluntarily went with Smith

The highest ranking of four US marines accused in the Subic rape case testified on Tuesday that the 22-year-old Filipino complainant voluntarily boarded their van after having "aggressively flirted" with Lance Corporal Daniel Smith. Staff Sergeant Chad Carpentier told a Makati court that "Nicole" went with Smith to board a van they had rented on the night of November 1 last year. During direct examination by his lawyer, Francisco Rodrigo, the 28-year-old Carpentier said he first saw Nicole seated on Smith’s lap while they were "aggressively flirting" inside the Neptune Club.

Since walking out last Thursday to protest what they said was the incompetence of the public prosecutors and call for their replacement, Nicole and her mother have not showed up at the hearings. Carpentier said he went inside the Neptune Club to round up his subordinates who were supposed to be back on their ship, USS Essex, before midnight that day. He admitted though that he did not see Smith and Nicole actually having sex at the back of the van since he was seated in front and was preoccupied with beating their curfew. "I can't say for sure what they were conducting at the back… I did not see her remove her pants down," Carpentier said of Smith and Nicole. The US marine also denied allegations he and the two other accused – Lance Corporals Keith Silkwood and Dominic Duplantis – egged on Smith while the latter was having sex. Carpentier added that he did not order the van's driver to slow down to allow Smith to carry out the sexual act. The US marine said he judged Nicole to be a woman of loose morals after he found out she was only partially dressed when they were about to disembark from the van in front of USS Essex. Carpentier said his impression of Nicole made him not lift a finger to help Nicole dress up after the incident. "I was shocked and offended that she would conduct that way in the back of the vehicle," said Carpentier. Asked what could be Nicole's motive for accusing them of rape, Carpentier replied: "She was ashamed and embarrassed of her behavior that evening, that she even got the observers at the sidewalk to come up with a conspiracy theory who were compelled to go along the wheels already turning." During his cross-examination by public prosecutor Elizabeth Berdal, Carpentier was reprimanded a few times for attempting to argue with Berdal instead of directly answering the questions. He was apparently grilled harder compared to Smith, who testified Monday last week. The trial will resume on Thursday, with Silkwood taking the witness stand. He will be followed on Friday by Duplantis. The defense has argued that Nicole had consensual sex with Smith. The prosecution has alleged that Nicole was intoxicated and not in control of her senses and therefore could not have given her consent to have sex. -GMANews.TV