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The Regional Court of First Instance of the city of Olongapo ordered the release of Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton from prison after completing his maximum sentence of 10 years in jail for killing Filipino transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude in the city of Olongapo in 2014.
Olongapo RTC Judge Roline Ginez-Abalde issued the order after calculating Pemberto’s total cumulative time of service with his good conduct time allowance.
By the calculation, Pemberton had served a total of 405 days during his pretrial incarceration and 1,737 days during the service of his 10-year prison sentence.
On the other hand, the court ruled that the US Marine was entitled to a 260-day GCTA during pretrial incarceration and to 1,288 GCTA during the service of his sentence.
Therefore, Pemberto’s actual time in jail is 2,142 days and 1,548 days for GCTA.
“Finally, Defendant Pemberton has a total cumulative time served with GCTA law ten (10) years, 1 month and ten (10) days, which is more than the maximum penalty of ten (10) years imposed by this court and affirmed by the Court of Appeals. Therefore, he now has the right to be released because he has already served the maximum ten (10) years of his sentence ”, declared the court of first instance.
The trial court also noted that Pemberton had already paid the full amount awarded by the court in its decision of November 18, 2015, as amended by the CA in its decision of April 3, 2017.
It should be remembered that Pemberton was ordered to pay P4.32 million representing the award of the capacity to generate losses; P155,250 representing compensation for actual damages, P75,000 as civil compensation; P75,000 as moral damage and P35,000 as exemplary damage.
“Therefore, in view of the foregoing, the partial appeal for reconsideration of the accused L / Cpl. Awarded to Joseph Pemberton. The Director General of the Bureau of Corrections is ordered to release defendant L / Cpl Joseph Scott Pemberton from detention unless he is detained for some other legitimate cause or causes, ”the order said.
Laude’s sister, Marilou, through attorney Virginia Suárez, immediately filed a motion to reconsider the court order.
She insisted that the Pemberton camp showed no proof of good behavior while in jail.
“Significantly, in the case of Pemberton, there is no evidence that he has any active participation in rehabilitation programs or has participated in any authorized work activity or performed any exemplary act. No conduct can be attributed to him. Therefore, good conduct time should not be granted, ”the appeal says.
Camp Laude also noted that there is no record from the Time Assignment Supervisor showing that Pemberton has attended and actively participated in any of the rehabilitation programs or has been productively engaged in authorized work activities or accomplished exemplary action. , as provided in the 2017 Uniform Manual on Time Benefits and Sentence Service.
They added that there should also be a recommendation made by the Management Selection and Evaluation Committee.
Prior to this, the Supreme Court granted Pemberto’s urgent motion to withdraw his petition to revoke the CA decision issued on April 3, 2017 that affirmed his conviction for homicide by the Olongapo RTC.
Pemberton said he decided to withdraw his petition “after careful consideration of the circumstances” of the case.
The US Marine said the withdrawal of his petition covers the criminal and civil aspects of his appeals.
In his motion for reconsideration filed with the CA, Pemberton sought revocation of his conviction by insisting that he did not kill Laude and that the latter was alive when he left him inside his motel room.
He maintained that the injuries he inflicted on Laude were in self-defense while fighting after he discovered that the victim was a transgender.
But the CA ruled that to justify self-defense circumstances, Pemberton was only trying to exonerate or reduce his sentence from the murder charge.
He stressed that Pemberton’s self-defense claim cannot carry weight as he was unable to prove that he was attacked by Laude and that his life was in danger on the night of the incident.
The CA added that Pemberton’s immediate escape from Celzone Lodge where Laude was found dead is an indication of guilt.
