Relatives of slain Filipino transgender Jennifer Laude on Friday said that only the Court of Appeals, not the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court, can rule on the bail plea of US Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton after his conviction for homicide.
In an interview, lawyer Virginia Suarez urged Branch 74 Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde to deny Pemberton’s bail petition.
“The petition for bail [of Pemberton] can only be decided by the appellate court in this case, where the charge was initially non-bailable, i.e., murder, but eventually convicted for a bailable offense, like homicide,” he told The Standard.
“Filing it [petition] before the same court is procedurally irregular.”
Suarez asserted Pemberton could flee.
“But more importantly, the same should be denied because he is a flight risk, and the fact that he has already been declared as an undesirable alien,” she stressed.
In a 77-page omnibus motion, Pemberton’s lawyers told Ginez-Jabalde that the court could grant bail to a person convicted of homicide or any crime with a penalty of reclusion temporal.
Pemberton’s camp insisted that he is not a flight risk, and that his superiors promised to bring him to court when required.
“To allow Pemberton a bail is a mockery of our justice system,” Suarez said.
Apart from the bail plea, Pemberton wanted the lower court to reverse his conviction, citing the coury failed to appreciate his evidence that another person could have killed Laude after he left Celzone Lodge in Olongapo City on Oct. 11, 2014.
He said the P4.3 million indemnification awarded to the victim’s family for loss of earnings was excessive and without basis.
On Dec. 1, Ginez-Jabalde found Pemberton guilty of homicide beyond reasonable doubt and ordered him to suffer a jail term of six years to 12 years and to indemnify the kin of Laude P4.32 million for loss of earning capacity, P155,250 for funeral and burial expenses, P50,000 for civil damages, P50,000 for moral damages and P30,000 for exemplary damages.
In October 2014, Laude, then 26, met Pemberton, 19, at the Ambyanz disco bar in Olongapo City, and proceeded to Celzone Lodge. Thirty minutes after they had checked in, Pemberton was seen leaving their rented room, where Laude was found dead.