'Nicole' can't be charged with perjury - lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines - "Nicole" cannot be charged for perjury just because she expressed doubts about whether she was indeed raped by US serviceman Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith, a lawmaker said Thursday. At the weekly forum in Quezon City, House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Antonio Cuenco said the sworn statement of Nicole – wherein she said she might have led on Smith into thinking she wanted to have sex with him, contrary to her earlier statements that she was certain that she was sexually violated – should not be taken against her. "She has doubts about what she said. That doesn't make her a perjurer," Cuenco said. "Let us not be hard on Nicole." The lawmaker made the statement after Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said Nicole could be charged with perjury for supposedly issuing false statements while the case was still being heard. The appeal of Smith, whom a Makati Regional Trial Court convicted guilty of raping Nicole, is still pending before the Court of Appeals. "I don't think it will fly, the perjury case against Nicole," Cuenco said. Cuenco also said the latest statement of Nicole would have no legal bearing on Smith's pending appeal as it could not be used as legal evidence unless she would affirm it herself by undergoing cross-examination. "The affidavit of recantation would have no bearing whatsoever on a legal aspect," Cuenco said, although he added that in a "moral aspect" the CA judges might think "baka may duda ito [Maybe she has doubts]." "No way can the affidavit of Nicole be used by the court. [The court] cannot accept it strictly as legal evidence," added Cuenco, a lawyer. At the same time, he urged the CA to decide swiftly on Smith's appeal. "I sincerely hope the Court of Appeals will decide on this case once and for all. We would like to call on the Court of Appeals to please expedite naman your decision on this matter," the lawmaker said. In a five-page sworn statement signed last March 12, Nicole admitted that she "possibly lost (her) inhibitions" and became "intimate" with Smith after drinking "alcoholic mixed drinks" with him when they met at a bar in Subic, Olongapo City on Nov. 1, 2005. Her statement came more than two years after Smith's conviction in 2006. He is currently detained at the US Embassy. In her statement, Nicole said she expected many sectors to question her motive for expressing doubts about whether she was raped but maintained that she made the move because she was bothered by her conscience. "I would rather risk public outrage than do nothing to help the court in ensuring that justice is served," she said. - Johanna Camille Sisante, GMANews.TV