Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — A lawyer prosecuting the murder trial of Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton on Tuesday (September 1) dismissed reports claiming that the family of the victim, Filipino transgender woman Jennifer Laude, would accept an out-of-court settlement of P38 million and six visas from the camp of the accused.
“I am really surprised [of] the PR twists recently, which says that apparently we asked for [at least] P36 million and for six visas,” lawyer Harry Roque told CNN Philippines in a phone interview over Headline News.
“There’s absolutely no truth to it,” he said.
Roque explained that it would be legally impossible to ask for a settlement at this point as both the defense and the prosecution have “rested [their] evidences.”
Settlements for a heinous crime like murder could only happen during the plea bargain, which is part of the pretrial, he added.
At this point, the lawyer said that the prosecution was just waiting for the decision on December 14, after both sides sum up their arguments on the final day of hearing on September 14.
Different from 2005 Subic rape case
The lawyer also explained the difference of the current case with the 2005 Subic rape case, where U.S. serviceman Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith was convicted of raping a Filipina named “Nicole” inside a van.
Roque said that unlike rape, murder cases cannot be compromised as it is an offense committed against the state.
The lawyer, however, warned that the tactic used in Nicole’s case could be also at work in Laude’s case.
“I think this information of P36 million and six visas is preparatory to individuals approaching our clients, which is similar to what happened to Nicole,” he said.
He warned the lawyers of Pemberton that he would not think twice of filing a disbarment case against them, if proven that they had been approaching the Laude family, as communicating with a client without going through the lawyer is a breach of professional ethics.
National day of outrage
Laude’s family is also planning to hold a “national day of outrage” to commemorate her first death anniversary.
“Well it’s indispensable that we also inform the people about the issues surrounding the murder case,” Roque said. The lawyer explained that the case is also an issue of Philippine sovereignty and a hate crime.
“[U]ntil now we have not gotten custody of the person of Pemberton, who remained under guard by his American watchers,” he said.
“He lost his temper when he, according to his word, ‘found something that was not supposed to be there’.”
Last May, Lance Cpl. Jairn Michael Rose, a friend Pemberton’s and a fellow U.S. marine, told the court that the suspect allegedly confessed that he might have killed a “he or a she.”
Pemberton testified last month that he punched and choked the victim as self-defense after discovering that she was not biologically female and that she still had male genitalia.
Related: Pemberton takes witness stand, admits choking Laude
