Pemberton found guilty of homicide

US Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton (left) arrives for the verdict of his court case for the killing of Filipino transgender Jennifer Laude at Olongapo city. (AP PHOTO)

US Marine corporal gets 12 years for killing Laude

OLONGAPO — A Philippine court yesterday convicted a US Marine of killing a Filipino last year after he discovered she was a transgender woman in a hotel while he was on a break after participating in joint military exercises in the country.

Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton was convicted of homicide by first strangling Jennifer Laude and then dunking her head into a toilet bowl in the hotel they had checked into after meeting in a disco bar in October 2014 in Olongapo, a city northwest of Manila. He was sentenced to 6-12 years in jail and credited with time already spent in detention, said court clerk Gerry Gruspe.

The court also ordered Pemberton, who has been detained at a Philippine military camp for about a year, to pay Laude’s family 4.6 million pesos in damages.

Laude’s mother, Julita, said that while she was happy the verdict detailed everything that had transpired, she was not pleased with the length of the jail term because she had hoped Pemberton would be convicted of murder, a more serious crime than homicide.

“But the important thing is he will be jailed,” she said, crying. “My son’s life is not wasted.”

The Laude family’s private lawyer, Harry Roque, said that “this is a bittersweet victory because it is not murder,” adding that “if what he did isn’t cruelty, I don’t know what is.”

Two of Pemberton’s US Marine colleagues testified that Pemberton told them, “I think I killed a he/she.”

The judge said she downgraded the murder charge to homicide because conditions such as cruelty and treachery had not been proven.

The killing sparked anger in the Philippines and reignited calls by left-wing groups and nationalists for an end to America’s military presence in the country at a time when the U.S. is reasserting its dominance in Asia and Manila has turned to Washington for support amid an escalating territorial dispute with China.

Pemberton, an anti-tank missile operator from  Massachusetts, was one of thousands of American and Philippine military personnel who participated in the joint exercises last year. He and a group of other Marines were on leave after the exercises and met Laude and her friends at a bar in Olongapo City.

At least two witnesses testified that Laude was a sex worker.

Pemberton and Laude left the bar and checked in together at a nearby hotel. About 30 minutes later, Pemberton walked out, leaving the room’s door ajar, according to hotel staff.

Pemberton testified in August that he had choked Laude during a fight that erupted when he discovered she was a transgender woman.

Pemberton returned to Camp Aguinaldo yesterday evening after his conviction.

The Olongapo Regional Trial Court Branch 74 said Pemberton would be temporarily detained at the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City.

Philippine and US authorities had a short standoff after the conviction on who should keep Pemberton. US guards securing Pemberton reportedly prevented Philippine police from taking him. The convicted US Marine filed a handwritten motion for clarification on his detention, Laude family’s counsel Atty. Harry Roque said.

The Department of Justice then decided that Pemberton would remain at his detention site at Camp Aguinaldo.

He will stay at Camp Aguinaldo “until his appeal is decided with finality by our courts,” the DOJ said.