Filipino who accused Marine of rape changes story

[Psephos]

Source: AP

MANILA, Philippines - A Filipino woman who accused a U.S. Marine of rape has altered her testimony and emigrated to the United States, saying she was no longer certain that a crime took place, a lawyer said Wednesday.

The case has strained U.S.-Philippine military relations amid calls for the scrapping of a pact allowing U.S. troops to train Filipino soldiers, and has become a rallying point for anti-American protests.

Three years after Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith was convicted of rape and sentenced to 40 years in jail, his accuser submitted a five-page affidavit to an appeals court Tuesday saying she now doubts her own version of events.

"My conscience continues to bother me realizing that I may have in fact been so friendly and intimate with Daniel Smith ... that he was led to believe that I was amenable to having sex or that we simply just got carried away," the woman said in the statement. She described that the two were drinking, kissing and dancing at a bar at the former U.S. Naval base at Subic Bay before moving to a van, where she originally told the court she was raped while she passed out. Smith had insisted the sex was consensual.

<snip>

Read more: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/ap/20090318/tap-as-philippines-us-marine-fe2a5de.html

[WriteDown]

1. Yikes!!

And now this guy's life is ruined. Its getting so that you now need a written contract.

[Hoopla Phil]

3. "written contract" LOL Ever seen a movie called Cherry 2000?

They had written contracts for the "act". Very funny

[BlueJazz]

2. Damn Lady....Shit like this hurts ALL Women. If you're not sure, Don't start proceedings.

[FreakinDJ]

21. Political football pursued by Women's Groups in Philippines

and given the Women's rights Leaders from the USA who flew over to help pursue this case

"It is an International Disgrace for ALL Women"

Evne thou she changed her story several times and the first judge had concerns about letting the case move forward....

I feel she was played and used as a pawn by political groups to pursue an agenda. The Marine was merely fodder.

[FreakinDJ]

23. Women's groups feel "let down" by Nicole's recantation

Women's groups feel "let down" by Nicole's recantation

Alleged Subic rape case victim “Nicole” let down women’s groups when she recanted her story, according to Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP).

AMRSP chair Sr. Mary John Mananzan said “Nicole” let down the women’s groups who even made her a symbol of the cause of women.

“They all made her a symbol already. For the first time she won against a formidable enemy. A lot of people placed their hope and trust on her and she did this,” she said over Catholic-run Radio Veritas 846 yesterday.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/199413

I feel sorry for the Marine

[Sultana]

4. Deport her

[rollingrock]

5. Coincidence?

the article makes it sound as if the dfense department might have helped her relocate to the US in return for dropping the charges. I hope the timing was just a mere coincidence.

[EFerrari]

9. Yeah. It was probably just a "coincidence". n/t

[FreakinDJ]

24. That is just not the case

It was a furver of Anti-American, Anti-Armed Forces, and sadly Women's Rights Groups that led the charge in the case.

I followed it as it was happening and the case was "Weak" at best but political presure kept it going. The woman's testimony kept changing so much the first judge was about to toss the case out. Only the judge was replaced and case went forward. I was extremely surprised a conviction was reached at all.

You can try searching the Manila Times - they'll have tons of information on the case

[mahina]

6. Filipina.

I'm sure the headline read 'Filipino." Just sayin.

[harmonicon]

10. This is English

We don't have gender distinctions for human beings based on country of origin in English. You man feel that "Filipina" is appropriate, but others, such as myself, find such terms to be demeaning.

[TheWraith]

11. Um, the language doesn't care whether you find it demeaning or not.

The fact is that it's customary in most Spanish-influenced languages to distinguish gender.

[harmonicon]

15. yeah, I know

but DU is in English, and this article is in English. I don't mind that I'm assigned gender when someone speaks of me being an American in French. I don't expect people using other languages to refer to me as I would be in my language, and I don't know why that would change when going from a gender-specific language to a gender neutral language.

[Igel]

18. We have gender in English.

We avoid it, in many cases, as demeaning. "Stewardess" or "actress" (although this varies by person and context).

There are two adjectives that traditionally require it: blond(e) and brunet(te), which often wind up not having it done French-style in English. People have lost track of something that is an aberration in English grammar.

Some insist on "Latina" and "Latino", although they oddly insist on English capitalization. We also insist on tildes and Spanish accents ... and pretty much only Spanish ones. So although it's very important to show cultural sensitivity and such we can't get Mrs. Putina's last name right. Nor Poles' or Czechs'. As for "Kostunica" or names like "Mladic", with the right diacritics ... who cares? We've used up our cultural sensitivity.

But "Filipina" is especially ironic. "Filipino" is the colonists' word for the indigenous populations, right? The colonists' language was Spanish, so you got filipina, filipinos, and filipinas, as well. But the word was borrowed into Tagalog and is the official name for what is, by and large, Tagalog. We borrowed "filipino" from Spanish, but we might as well have borrowed it anew from Filipino--you couldn't tell. Now, Tagalog has no grammatical gender. It doesn't have feminine and masculine nouns, and thus can't have adjective agreement. In other words, you can't say "Filipina" in Filipino. Instead of calling them by a Filipinio word, in the interests of being anti-colonialist we must render tribute to their colonizers' language and call them what their conquerors called them: Filipinos and Filipinas. Thus we reassert the colonialists' influence not just over the Filipinos themselves, but also introduce it into English. This is progressive?

[mahina]

20. Interesting point.

Hadn't thought of that.

What's the word in Tagalog, or in Illocano?

[mahina]

19. ? what the hell?

I know it's English.

Demeaning? Seriously?

Calling a woman a man is demeaning.

You must not have much to do.

[harmonicon]

22. oh, I guess I don't have much to do

or as much as you apparently. Would you call a French person "French" whether they were a man or a woman? Ok, not demeaning, case closed. English doesn't work that way.

However, we do have distinction based on gender within English for naming animals. Doing the same for humans is demeaning.

Oh, here's an example!!

Negress |ˈnēgris|
noun dated often offensive
a woman or girl of black African origin.
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: from French négresse, feminine of nègre ‘negro.’
USAGE See usage at Negro .

"often offensive"? Why, dictionary?! Oh, what's this?!?

Negro |ˈnēgrō|
noun ( pl. -groes) dated often offensive
a member of a dark-skinned group of peoples originally native to Africa south of the Sahara.
adjective dated often offensive
of or relating to such people.


I guess I've just wasted all of this free time that I have without much to do by engaging in critical thought processes relevant to the time in which I live and the culture of which I am a part. How foolish of me! I should have just gone along with the linguistic flavour of the month, ignoring the demeaning, racist alarm bells that go off in my head warning me that supposed cultural sensitivity is in fact back door dehumanization.

[mahina]

30. We finally agree.

[harmonicon]

37. high-five!

hi, friend.

[Bonobo]

32. There is a word in Tagalog distinguishing men and women.

Pinoy and Pinay. So there.

[harmonicon]

38. As there is in English

... but it's a good thing that DU isn't in Tagalog, because I can't read or write a word of that.

However, as I just read on here earlier, that language, like ours, doesn't have a gender specific word for citizens of their own country, so the entire argument is getting more and more silly by the minute.

[Bonobo]

39. I would suggest that the word "filipina" is, in fact, an English word.

Through its common usage, it is a defacto English word.

As a linguist and an Asian Studies scholar, I find it interesting, not silly.

It was YOUR point, I believe, that it was offensive to have a separate word for women and men. I was responding to that.

It was your suggestion that I found silly and provincial.

[harmonicon]

40. well, I do find it offensive and insulting

We also have offensive and insulting words in English. Read some of the other posts, and I think you'll see (though likely not agree with) my point. The French have different words for a French citizen, dependent on the person's gender, but we don't carry these over into English. It seems to me that such terms are used only for people from countries that are less like our own - less white. I think there are disturbing historical racial implications in accepting and using such terminology, so I won't be a party to it.

[Lost in CT]

33. Why is filipina demaning... and to whom?

And since when?

[Bonobo]

36. It is called ISSEIL Syndrome. "I see sexism everywhere I look syndrome" nt

[Hulk]

7. Doh....not sure, now?

Great! Guess you can only say "idiot" comes in all genders, nationalities, races, religions, etc, etc.

Too bad she didn't have a brain when she raked this soldier over the coals in the court room. Wonder how her immigration process is going to proceed after this revelation?

[aaaaaa5a]

8. I stated with factual support evidence that 50% of all rape accusations were false reports

the last time a similarly thread on this issue was started here.

Of course I was criticized for being some kind of monster because it's not "PC" to be objective on this topic.


This case is just another example of what I was talking about before.

[TheWraith]

12. I think that's excessive. FBI studies say it's around 20%. nt

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[harmonicon]

16. probably not "as horrible"

I know both people who have been raped, and people who have been falsely accused (thankfully never convicted, like this poor man) of rape, and one is much worse than the other.

[FreakinDJ]

25. 25% of Falsly Accused are Raped in Prison - Much Worse

Not only are the poor slobs Falsley Accused and Wrongfully convicted. 25% of them are then Raped in Prison

BTW: Innocents Project found over 30% were Wrongfully Convicted

[harmonicon]

26. you want to play numbers?

100% of victims of rape have been raped. How is 25% of 30% > 100%?

[FreakinDJ]

27. "Forty-one percent of all reports are false."

"Forty-one percent of all reports are false."

This claim comes from a study conducted by Eugene J. Kanin of Purdue University. Kanin examined 109 rape complaints registered in a Midwestern city from 1978 to 1987.

Of these, 45 were ultimately classified by the police as "false." Also based on police records, Kanin determined that 50 percent of the rapes reported at two major universities were "false."

Although Kanin offers solid research, I would need to see more studies with different populations before accepting the figure of 50 percent as prevalent; to me, the figure seems high.

But even a skeptic like me must credit a DNA exclusion rate of 20 percent that remained constant over several years when conducted by FBI labs. This is especially true when 20 percent more were found to be questionable.

False accusations are not rare. They are common.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,194032,00.html

and the article was written by a woman

[FreakinDJ]

28. Woman sentenced for false rape accusation

Woman sentenced for false rape accusation

The woman was sentenced to probation and psychiatric care. She must also pay 52,000 kronor ($8700) in damages to the man she accused of raping and threatening her.

The incident occurred in July of 2006 in Haninge, south of Stockholm. The woman called police and claimed that a man had locked her in an apartment, threatened her with a gun, and raped her several times.

Police sent 14 patrol cars and a few hours later arrested a man who willingly opened the door.

The 37-year-old woman was taken to hospital, but a medical examination revealed no signs that she’d been raped.

A closer investigation later revealed that the man had asked her to leave, that she wasn’t locked in as she had previously claimed, and that no sexual crime had been committed.

The whole incident had been fabricated and a year later the woman was indicted.
http://www.thelocal.se/10746/20080327/

[FreakinDJ]

29. Woman who falsely cried rape EIGHT times is spared jail

Woman who falsely cried rape EIGHT times is spared jail

A woman who made eight separate false claims of rape or sexual assault has been spared jail.
Gemma Gregory, 28, accused seven different men over a six-year period.
Former boyfriends were subjected to police questioning and DNA testing to clear their names.
Her fantasy stories also wasted huge amounts of police time.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-493352/Woman-falsely-cried-rape-EIGHT-times-spared-jail.html

[TheWraith]

43. To be fair, only a very small percentage of women would do that.

Just as only a very small percentage of men would commit rape. But in both cases that risk is ever-present.

[aaaaaa5a]

17. Even if I conceded the 20%, that is still far higher than most would realize.

I'm not doubting the 20% number. I simply haven't seen it.

I have seen reliable sources placing the number of false accusations at 40-50%. And I have worked with sexual assault detectives who will tell you about 50% of rape accusations are false claims.


Whether it's 20% or 50%, it's still to high. And sadly, often innocent people pay a heavy price.

[Lost in CT]

34. That also doesn't mean the woman wasn't raped but that she accused the wrong person.

Eyewitness testimony is shaky when it comes to identifying a stranger...

I believe the 20% number comes from DNA non-matches after the fact and has been pretty solid... it doesn't include rape accusations that have no DNA component. Which is why many believe the number to be higher.

[TheWraith]

42. I think that they were talking mostly about false or inaccurate complaints.

And not mis-identifications. I could be wrong, though. I'm vague on the details because it was awhile ago that I read this thing, which was basically an FBI report compiled over the previous decade of law enforcement reports from around the country, analyzing what crimes were most likely to be falsely reported and where.

[mitchum]

14. She should have to be imprisoned for the exact amount of time he has served...

it would go a little ways toward making this right

[Zanie]

31. There goes her lawsuit

If people want to make things up, at least they should keep things consistent.

[buckrogers1965]

35. Horrible.

A false accusation of rape should have the same penalty as rape does. Each is horrible and wrong.

[Name removed]

41. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Prometheus Bound]

44. Isn’t it strange? Why recant now, Nicole?

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 06:05:00 03/20/2009

MANILA, Philippines—Was her convicted rapist, if not the US government itself, behind the change of heart of “Nicole,” the Filipino woman who briefly served as a symbol of the purported inequity of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)?

At least three senators are nursing suspicions in the wake of Nicole’s submission of a sworn statement raising doubt about her rape by Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith, and her flight to the United States, apparently for good.

According to Sen. Loren Legarda, Nicole’s case has implications on the VFA, which governs the conduct of US troops in the Philippines and which is now the subject of calls for review or outright termination.

“There’s more than meets the eye in this issue,” she said, noting that the agreement that became effective in 1999 was very important with respect to the United States’ war on terror and its strategic and security interests in the Asian region.

“It cannot be discounted that extreme pressures may have been applied on Nicole for her to recant her at the risk of inviting perjury and other charges against her,” said Legarda, who had voted against the ratification of the agreement.

“Nicole’s leaving for the US also raises questions because if it is true that she may have wrongfully accused Smith of raping her, why would she choose to live in the native land of the man she may have wronged?” Legarda said.

Form and timing

In a statement, Sen. Francis Pangilinan raised “serious questions about the form and timing” of Nicole’s sworn statement dated March 12.

“What boggles my mind right now is why the new affidavit came from the lawyer of Daniel Smith and not her own lawyer,” Pangilinan said.

“Isn’t that strange?” he said, calling attention to “the timing of events” that included the “scuffle over Smith’s custody,” US President Barack Obama’s telephone call to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stating his commitment to the VFA, and Nicole’s affidavit.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090320-195143/Isnt-it-strange-Why-recant-now-Nicole

New ‘Nicole’ documents on rape case: All inked in a day
03/18/2009 | 07:27 PM
MANILA, Philippines - All the documents that could weaken the accusation of “Nicole" against her convicted rapist Lance Corporal Daniel Smith were signed within a day, data obtained by GMANews.TV showed.

Nicole signed the document terminating the services of her lawyer Evalyn Ursua on March 12. On the same date, she signed another document stating that she received P 100,000 from her convicted rapist.

She also affixed her signature to another paper stating that she made some clarifications on her testimony against Smith on March 12. And finally on the same day, Nicole signed a sworn statement hinting that the crime of rape might not have taken place at all.

Did she sign all the documents on her own volition? Ursua doubts she did. Ursua said Abraham Rey Acosta, the lawyer who notarized Nicole’s sworn statement is from the law firm that handles Smith’s case, which is now pending at the Court of Appeals.
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/153260/New-Nicole-documents-on-rape-case-All-inked-in-a-day

[AlphaCentauri]

45. Money, Visa, very suspicious case n/t

[Prometheus Bound]

46. 99.99999% chance she was bought off.