Laude family contests Pemberton’s plea before DOJ By MARK MERUEÑAS, GMA NewsJanuary 6, 2015 5:06pm The camp of slain transgender woman Jeffrey Jennifer Laude on Tuesday asked the Department of Justice to dismiss a plea from US Marine Lance Corporal contesting his murder indictment. In a 33-page comment and opposition, Laudes sister Marilou Laude insisted that probable cause against Pemberton has been clearly and unequivocably established by the witnesses who testified during the preliminary investigation by the Olongapo City Prosecutors Office. “We should be [the] one aggrieved by the NCIS report because until today Olongapo City Prosecutor Emily Delos Santos has refused to give us a copy of the same. Pemberton was given a copy of the report. What is he complaining about now?” Laude asked. Marilou was referring to the US Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS), which conducted its own probe on the incident and found among others that Pembertons fingerprint was on one of the condom wrappers found at the scene of the crim Furthermore, Laude emphasized that Pemberton waived his right to rebut any and all evidence when he opted not to submit his counter affidavit. “Pemberton forfeited his right to be heard, he did so voluntarily with assistance of counsel. He cannot now complain that his right to due process is violated, said Harry Roque, one of the lawyers of the Laude family, in a statement. In his 33-page petition for review filed last month, Pemberton asked Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to set aside the Dec. 15, 2014 resolution of the Olongapo City Prosecutors Office finding probable cause to charge the US serviceman with murder. In its resolution, the prosecutors who handled the preliminary investigation decided to file a murder case against Pemberton because of the presence of treachery, cruelty, and abuse of superior strength. But Pembertons camp said there must first be a deliberate or conscious choice of a means of execution that insures the offenders safety from retaliatory act from the victim before an act can be considered as a qualifying circumstance in murder. Pembertons camp also cited the Supreme Court ruling in the case of People v. Cajurao, which states that treachery cannot be supposed where no particulars are known as to how the killing began. Pemberton said there was no direct evidence presented during preliminary investigation to show how the alleged attack was commenced and executed. The Laude camp however argued that a crime is not only established by direct evidence, adding that the absence of direct evidence and even eyewitnesses would not weaken the case and preclude a finding of probable cause. In his petition, Pemberton said mere surmises and conjectures from supposed witnesses were used during the initial probe, even as the object and documentary evidence presented were inadmissible. The Laude camp said questions on admissibility of evidence that were raised by Pemberton are best dealt with during trial proper, and not during preliminary investigation. Pembertons camp also said there is cruelty only when the other injuries or wounds are inflicted deliberately by an offender, which are not necessary for the killing of the victim. The Laude camp said the murder indictment was proper given that the many bruises sustained by Jennifer were all evidence of treachery and cruelty. The camp said the killing also involved abuse of superior strength because Pemberton underwent combat training and qualified as private first class in the US Marine. Pemberton is accused of killing the 26-year-old transgender woman, who was found dead inside a lodge in Olongapo City in October this year. She was last seen with Pemberton whom she reportedly met at a bar. Pemberton was earlier transferred from the US Navy ship USS Peleliu docked in Subic to a US facility in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. All these links and pieces of evidence taken as a whole constitute an unbroken chain leading to one inescapable conclusion - that probable cause exists against (Pemberton) for the crime of murder, said Marilou. —NB, GMA News
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 12:41:59 +0000
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