Pemberton verdict known today

OLONGAPO CITY, Philippines – The high-profile trial of an American soldier accused of killing a Filipino transgender in a motel here last year comes to a conclusion when Regional Trial Court branch 74 Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde hands down her verdict today.

US Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton, charged with murder for the death of transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude at the Celzone Lodge where they checked in together in the evening of Oct. 11, 2014, is mandated to attend the promulgation of the case.

City prosecutor Emily Fe de los Santos, head of the prosecution team, said the promulgation has been set at 1 p.m. 

De los Santos said Jabalde earlier set the promulgation on Nov. 24 but defense lawyers sought postponement, which the judge granted.

“Most people here look forward to the conclusion of this case as many were affected after the US Navy cancelled scheduled port calls and liberty of their servicemen in the city because of the incident which, if you look at it objectively, was really an isolated one,” Olongapo City Mayor Rolen Paulino told The STAR yesterday.

Paulino said security will be tight at the Hall of Justice here with some 1,000 policemen expected to be deployed to secure the perimeter of the court as well as Pemberton.

Private prosecutor Virgie Suarez told The STAR that two rallies will be held today – one in Mendiola, Manila starting at 10 a.m. until the promulgation time, and another in front of the Hall of Justice here starting at 7 a.m.

Paulino, a supporter of US presence in the country, said he is happy the trial is coming to an end.

“Residents and businessmen in this city also await the end of the trial and the visit of American servicemen going on liberty to the city’s entertainment streets,” he said. “Business owners and their employees can anticipate a better Christmas and New Year when this case is finally over.”

The US government earlier said it will work out an agreement with the Philippine government on the custody of Pemberton in case he is found guilty.

US Ambassador Philip Goldberg said they will make sure that the deal will be appropriate for all sides and in accordance with the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

During a hearing last August at the RTC Branch 74 here, Pemberton admitted strangling and choking Laude when he found out he was a man and not a woman.

Defense lawyers, however, tried to establish during the trial that there was no intention to kill on the part of the accused.

Pemberton, assigned to the US Navy ship USS Peleliu, met Laude at the Ambyanz Nightlife Bar along Magsaysay Avenue while he and his marine buddies were on liberty after taking part in a joint Philippine-US military exercise.

Pemberton, 20, has been detained in a US facility at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City since the court issued a warrant for his arrest in December last year.

Pemberton is seeking a downgrading of the murder charge to homicide.

Lawyers for the Laude family have been seeking Pemberton’s transfer to the Olongapo City jail but the Supreme Court (SC) issued a ruling recently denying the petition for his transfer.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) also did not push for Philippine custody of Pemberton, saying the US action to keep custody of their serviceman was covered by the provisions of the VFA. – With Pia Lee-Brago, Evelyn Macairan, Edu Punay, Jaime Laude