By Volt Contreras & Tarra Quismundo (Inquirer)Updated 02:52am (Mla time) 06/28/2006
FOR TWO hours yesterday, the Subic rape trial sounded like a crash course in cocktail mixing.
Lawyers for complainant “Nicole” made a bartender state the “alcohol content” of the various drinks she had taken at the Neptune Club, to bolster their contention that she was too drunk to have agreed to sex with one of the four accused US Marines.
But after prosecutors pointed out how strong Nicole’s drinks were, defense lawyers -- who contend she was sober enough to have consented to sex -- took note of “how much ice” usually went into each glass.
Roger Sanidad, 25, brought with him to the stand sample glasses, jiggers, a pitcher and a Neptune menu to demonstrate how concoctions like Vodka Sprite, B52, Singapore Sling, Long Island Iced Tea and Bullfrog were prepared and served at his bar.
These were the drinks that Nicole’s stepsister, Anna Liza Franco, had told the court they had ordered on the night of Nov. 1 last year, when the alleged rape took place in a van at the Subic Bay Freeport.
An earlier witness, US Navy Petty Officer Christopher Mills, said Nicole took four to five glasses of those drinks. Mills had described himself as a family friend who had invited the Zamboanga City-based sisters to join him on a vacation in Subic.
On direct examination by private prosecutor Honorato Aquino, Sanidad said he was one of the three bartenders on duty on the night in question.
On cross-examination, Sanidad said he never got to meet Nicole at the crowded bar and could not tell if he was the one who actually prepared her drinks.
Sanidad’s testimony, which visibly amused the gallery, turned out to be a virtual lesson on how the five drinks are mixed and served. After each mention of the ingredients and their “ratio,” Aquino asked him to give the alcohol content.
Vodka Sprite is “one shot vodka (40-percent alcohol) and three shots Sprite.” One shot corresponds to a 25-ml jigger, Sanidad said.
Long Island Iced Tea, meanwhile, is 1/3 shot each of vodka, gin, tequila, white rhum and an orange-flavored liqueur called Triple Sec, three shots of Coke and 1/2 shot of lemon juice.
Several Bullfrogs
A Bullfrog is one shot each of vodka, gin and lime juice and two shots each of pineapple juice and Sprite, according to the 16th witness for the prosecution.
Multiple orders of Bullfrog, if requested, can be served in a pitcher which can contain up to six glasses, he said.
In her testimony on Friday, Franco said Nicole had drunk “half a pitcher” of Bullfrog “straight up” shortly before meeting one of the accused, Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, on the dance floor.
On cross-examination, defense counsel Jose Justiniano and Enrico Uyehara made Sanidad state how many ice cubes usually went into each glass.
Relevance of the ice
The witness said that in the case of Vodka Sprite and Bullfrog, the concoctions usually filled up two-thirds of an 8- or 10-oz glass before ice was added.
Justiniano even produced a tape measure so that the witness could give his answers in inches.
Prosecutors questioned the relevance of bringing up the amount of ice, but Makati City Judge Benjamin Pozon upheld the defense panel’s tack.
“The bigger the ice, the lesser the effect,” he said, smiling.
But yesterday’s session was not all about mixing drinks.
Recalled to the witness stand, Nicole’s stepsister again came under intense grilling by defense lawyers, who tried to show that Nicole was coherent before the alleged rape occurred.
Franco appeared to keep her composure, rebuffing the defense lawyers and sticking to her earlier testimony that she saw “Nicole” heavily drunk and staggering at the Neptune Club moments before she lost sight of her.
The prosecution is banking on testimony that Nicole was dead drunk to prove that she could not have agreed to have sex with Smith, contrary to his claim.
How many drinks?
Nicole had alleged that Smith raped her in the back of a cruising Kia Starex van as his comrades -- Lance Corporals Keith Silkwood and Dominic Duplantis and Staff Sgt. Chad Carpentier -- cheered him on.
Francisco Rodrigo, Carpentier’s counsel, again asked Franco about the drinks she and her stepsister consumed at Neptune Club.
He asked Franco whether at any point she had told her stepsister that they should return to their hotel as they had already consumed several drinks and were beginning to feel dizzy.
“Did you not tell [Nicole] that you were dizzy? Did it not occur to you to ask [Nicole] to go back to the hotel?” Rodrigo asked.
Debate heats up
Franco said no, pointing out that she felt at ease with Mills around, referring to the family friend.
It was Mills and another serviceman, Carlos Ocasio, who had invited Franco, Nicole and their 12-year-old sister to travel to Olongapo City from Zamboanga for a vacation.
The courtroom heated up when Rodrigo asked Franco to describe how Nicole consumed the last drink she had that night -- a half-pitcher of Bullfrog. Franco had said the pitcher was ordered by Mills’ friend, an American serviceman identified only as Garcia.
A debate ensued over where the pitcher -- which was on another table -- was, with Rodrigo trying to show that Nicole “was not that drunk” to be able to walk to where it was.
Nicole’s lawyer Evalyn Ursua countered by saying that Nicole was drunk that night.
Franco is expected to return to the stand at the next hearing on Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment