On December 4, 2006, after numerous court hearings over the course of a year that were open to the public and the media, Judge Benjamin Pozon of the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 139 found Smith guilty of rape, sentencing him to "reclusión perpetua", a sentence of 40 years, while the three others were acquitted. Smith was confined in the United States Embassy in Manila, despite the judge's order that he be confined in a Philippine jail, and despite protests from Nicolas's supporters.