OLONGAPO TRIAL US Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton (second from left), who is accused of killing transgender woman Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude, arrives at the Olongapo City Hall. FILE PHOTO BY ERWIN AGUILLON/RADYO INQUIRER
OLONGAPO CITY — The court hearing the murder charge against US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton postponed the oral summation and submission of memorandum on Monday as his lawyers asked for corrections on the court’s transcripts of record on the testimonies of their three witnesses.
Lawyer Harry Roque Jr., lead counsel of the family of slain transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude, said Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde of the Olongapo Regional Trial Court Branch 74 granted the request of Pemberton’s lawyers to defer the proceedings.
Pemberton is facing murder for the death of Laude, whose body was found in a motel bathroom here on Oct. 11 last year. Witnesses identified Pemberton as the man who was last seen with Laude as they checked into the motel.
No details were provided regarding the corrections sought by defense lawyers.
Despite the postponement, the Laude camp challenged lawyer Rowena Garcia-Flores, Pemberton’s counsel, to clarify in court a newspaper report (not the INQUIRER) that said she was informed by a source that the Laude family had demanded six US visas and P38 million in exchange for dropping the case.
“We asked her (Flores) to confirm such report and she denied it outright. She said she did not grant any interview with a newspaper reporter and that the report was baseless,” Roque told reporters here.
Roque said Jabalde asked Flores to face reporters and clarify the report.
“Although Flores said she would not talk to reporters to deny the report, she already stated on record and in court that she wasn’t interviewed about the Laude family wanting to drop the case,” Roque said.
Laude’s sister, Marilou, said their family suffered emotionally when the news report came out. “Please don’t judge us too quickly. This is a difficult situation for us,” Marilou said, referring to what she called “hurtful comments” that surfaced on social media.
“We were accused of going after the money instead of justice for Jennifer. That’s not true. We would like to clarify that we never demanded P38 million and US visas,” she said.
Lawyer Virgie Lacsa-Suarez, another counsel of the Laude family, said Flores’ clarification would give the family “peace of mind” after weeks of criticisms.
“Now it has been clarified, and we are thankful. There was never a time that the Laude family wanted to drop the case in exchange for any amount,” Suarez said.
“We can’t accept such allegations… There is no truth to that, and we’re certain that the family did not demand those things,” she said.
She said the court moved the oral summation and submission of memorandums to Sept. 17.
But she said the court will proceed with the promulgation of its decision on Dec. 14, with or without the oral summation and submission of memorandums.