"A forensic expert testified in court yesterday that
transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude was possibly still alive when
Pemberton left him in a motel room here in October last year. Rachel Fortun, a forensic pathologist and professor at the
University of the Philippines College of Medicine, also discounted the
possibility that Laude died of asphyxia by drowning as claimed by
prosecution witnesses. Fortun is the last of the witnesses presented by the defense.......... Police pathologist Reynaldo Dave earlier testified for the
prosecution, saying he did the autopsy and that Laude’s body bore signs
of punching and choking before Laude died by drowning. Dave also said that traumatic injuries on Laude’s body mean
the application of too much pressure to produce bleeding – hence the
conclusion of strangulation. He told the court in his testimony that the suppression
shown by the hematoma in Laude’s larynx could be a result of an arm lock
and that the oozing of fluids in the lungs with bubbles, a result of
drowning.........Pemberton, who testified on Monday, admitted to choking Laude but stressed that he only did it in self-defense......... Defense counsel Rowena Flores explained that Pemberton’s
testimony was meant to prove that the qualifying circumstances of
treachery, abuse of superior strength and cruelty were not present in
the murder case. She said Pemberton “acted in self-defense and to protect his
honor and life… and acted in immediate vindication of the wrong done to
him.”"
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Bulletin: Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton; Philippines: 'Phillippine Star; reports ‘Laude possibly still alive when Pemberton left,’ ..."A forensic expert testified in court yesterday that transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude was possibly still alive when Pemberton left him in a motel room here in October last year. Rachel Fortun, a forensic pathologist and professor at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, also discounted the possibility that Laude died of asphyxia by drowning as claimed by prosecution witnesses. Fortun is the last of the witnesses presented by the defense."
