Marine's Rape Case Appeal Still Pending

Marine's Rape Case Appeal Still Pending
Agence France-Presse | January 04, 2008

More than a year after being sentenced to 40 years in jail for rape, a young American Marine is still waiting for his appeal to be heard in a case that has tested U.S.-Philippine relations.

On December 4, 2006 Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, 21, was convicted of raping a 22-year-old Filipina while he was on shore leave at the former U.S. naval base at Subic Bay, north of Manila.

Three other Marines who were with Smith at the time of the rape in November 2005 -- Lance Corporals Keith Silkwood and Dominic Duplantis and Staff Sergeant Chad Carpentier -- were acquitted in the highly-charged court case.

There is no word on when the local Court of Appeals will hand down its ruling on Smith's appeal.

A former U.S. colony that once hosted huge U.S. military bases, the Philippines remains sensitive to signs of unfair treatment by the American government.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,159358,00.html



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