Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 20) — The Court of Appeals (CA) junked the appeal of a U.S. Marine who was convicted of killing a Filipino transgender woman three years ago.
The 12-page resolution signed by the justices on August 15 and released Sunday affirmed the court’s decision last April 3, which found Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton guilty of homicide for the killing of Jennifer Laude.
“… (T)he arguments raised by parties are nothing but a rehash of the issues extensively covered in our decision,” stated the resolution penned by Associate Justice Marlene Gonzales-Sison.
Read more: CA affirms conviction of Pemberton for killing Jennifer Laude
The court also junked Office of the Solicitor General’s plea that Pemberton is not entitled full credit of the time he spent in jail under preventive imprisonment.
In his appeal, the U.S. Marine said the court “cherry-picked evidence to sustain the conviction and completely ignored all contrary evidence.”
But the court said Pemberton failed to prove his life was in danger and that he acted in self-defense as Laude attacked him.
“We maintain our ruling that his invocation is an admission of the killing and of its authorship. Pemberton’s contention that he was only raising complete and incomplete self-defense in the physical injuries he inflicted upon Jerry Serdoncillo y Laude alias “Jennifer” (Laude) is bereft of rhyme or reason as the former was not charged for any physical injuries but of homicide,” the resolution read.
Laude was found dead, her neck blackened with strangulation marks and head rammed to a toilet in a motel room in Olongapo City after a night out with Pemberton on October 11, 2014.
The Olongapo Regional Trial court handed down a guilty verdict on Pemberton for homicide — not murder — on December 1, 2015. He was sentenced to six to 12 years of imprisonment. His prison sentence was reduced to a maximum 10 years from 6 to 12 years.
The court also ordered Pemberton to pay the heirs of Laude 4.3 million.
CNN Philippines’ Correspondent Anjo Alimario contributed to this report.
