Pemberton found guilty of homicide

Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton has been found guilty of homicide by the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court for the death of Filipino transgender woman Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude.

Pemberton was indicted of murder charge but the court said on Tuesday that the prosecution failed to establish presence of aggravating circumstances of treachery and abuse of superior strength, Inquirer.net reported.

Pemberton was sentenced of six years to twelve years imprisonment.

In an interview with CNN Philippines, Laude’s mother, Marilou, said that the verdict of the court is not enough.

“Hindi ako kuntento sa 6-12 taon. Ang importante, makukulong siya (I am not contented with 6-12 years. What’s important is he will be imprisoned),” Mrs. Laude said.

“Following promulgation of the Olongapo trial court’s judgment of conviction in the case of US Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton, he will be transported, under the guard of personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP), to Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. He shall be received by personnel of the Bureau of Corrections (BUCOR) and immediately detained there until his appeal is decided with finality by our courts,” the official statement of the Department of Justice (DOJ) in the Pemberton case read.

The DOJ recognized the possibility of Pemberton being transferred to another detention facility under the Visiting Forces Agreement signed by the United States of America and the Philippines.

“In any case, his detention shall be at all times be carried out within Philippine territory, under guard by and in line with existing regulations of the BUCOR, in observance of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Nicolas v. Romulo (G.R. No. 175888, 11 February 2009, En Banc).,” read the statement.