US Marine Pfc Joseph Scott Pemberton. AP FILE PHOTO
OLONGAPO CITY—Convicted US Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton will appeal the Court of Appeals (CA) ruling that turned down his plea to reverse the guilty verdict handed down on Dec. 1, 2015 by a lower court here.
Pemberton’s lead counsel, lawyer Rowena Garcia-Flores, said on Tuesday that she could not immediately comment on the decision as she had yet to receive an official copy of the CA ruling.
But Flores said she would take the next legal remedy which was to file a motion for reconsideration.
“If denied, then [we will file a] petition for review in the Supreme Court,” Flores said in a text message.
In its ruling that was made public on April 10, the CA Special 16th Division affirmed the verdict handed down by Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde of the Olongapo Regional Trial Court Branch 74.
Jabalde ruled that Pemberton was guilty of homicide for killing Filipino transgender woman Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude in 2014.
Pemberton was initially sentenced to a minimum of six years to a maximum of 12 years in prison but Jabalde later reduced the maximum jail term to 10 years.
The CA junked for lack of merit Pemberton’s claim that he had killed the 26-year-old Laude in self-defense, saying his fear for his safety was “more imaginary than real.”
Laude was found dead in a bathroom of a motel in this city on Oct. 11, 2014.
The appellate court noted that Jabalde rightfully concluded that no “unlawful aggression” by Laude would have justified Pemberton’s actions.
“Pemberton unabashedly plunged Laude’s head in the toilet for the puerile reason that Laude pretended to be a woman,” the CA said in its April 3 resolution.
“To our mind, placing Laude’s head inside a toilet shows that Pemberton never thought of Laude as a human being, but as fecal matter due to his sexual orientation,” the CA said.
Laude’s sister, Marilou, said her family was thankful for the CA ruling.
“I’m happy that justice is served for the death of my sister,” she told the Inquirer.