Friday, September 18, 2015

Bulletin: Joseph Scott Pemberton: The Phillipines; ABS-CBN News reports that the decision in this controversial murder case may be issued before the December 14 deadline;

Countdown to Wrongful Conviction Day:  Friday, October 2,  2105; 14 days. For information: http://www.aidwyc.org/wcd-2015/

"Judge Roline Jabalde of the Olongapo Regional Trial Court Branch 74 may issue her decision on the Jennifer Laude slay case ahead of the December 14 deadline. This, after the prosecution and defense panels submitted their summations on the case Thursday morning. Laude family lawyer Harry Roque said the prosecution panel reiterated its position that based on actual and circumstancial pieces of evidence, US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton killed Laude on October 11 last year inside an Olongapo City lodge. The prosecution panel maintained that Laude was strangled and died due to asphyxia. Roque, in his summation, stressed that Pemberton killed Laude after he found out that she was a transgender. Roque said the Laude family must be indemnified with P200 million for moral and exemplary damages. The defense panel, meanwhile, said the court cannot issue a guilty verdict on Pemberton, saying there is a possibility that a third person was inside the motel room on the night of Laude's killing. A necklace which did not belong to Laude or Pemberton was also found in the room. Defense lawyers said it is the prosecution panel's job to find out who the third person was.........The trial of a US serviceman accused of committing a crime in Philippine territory is subject to the rules set by the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which requires the trial to be finished a year after it commenced.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/09/17/15/pemberton-trial-nears-end