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On Sunday, Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson added his voice to the opposition chorus against the early release of former US Marine Joseph Pemberton, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing transgender Jennifer Laude in 2014.
Lacson, chairman of the Senate defense committee, said the higher courts should review the decision of Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde of the Olongapo City Regional Court of First Instance who granted Pemberton’s request to be released before completing his sentence. due to Good Behavior Time Allotment (GCTA).
The controversial GCTA rule grants convicted criminals a reduction in their jail time for showing good behavior while in prison.
“The fact that Pemberton makes use of GCTA certainly deserves a second look from our jurists,” Lacson said on Twitter. “On the one hand, I can’t imagine how he met the requirement to provide teaching or mentoring while serving time on his own.”
Pemberton, now 25, has been detained in solitary confinement in a special military prison in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, after he was sentenced to six to 10 years in prison in November 2015 for killing Laude, then 26, in a city of Olongapo. motel room on October 11, 2014.
But on September 1, Jabalde allowed Pemberton to get full credit for his good behavior while in jail, saying the ex-marine had already served 2,142 days since his arrest from December 2015 to August 2020, and was entitled to a GCTA of 1,548 days.
This gave the American a cumulative time served with GCTA credits of 3,690 days, which is one month more than his maximum sentence of 10 years.
But the Justice Department questioned the GCTA court’s calculation and its jurisdiction to release the US military.
“Our prosecutors are still drafting the [motion for reconsideration or MR], but I hope that the jurisdictional issues, in addition to the divergence in the GCTA calculation, will be included in the MR, ”Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Sunday, adding that government attorneys are likely to file the appeal this week.
The Laude family’s attorney, Virginia Suárez, also filed an appeal, questioning the application of GCTA. INQ
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