Who Is Joseph Scott Pemberton? US Marine's Conviction For Killing Filipino Transgender Upheld

U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton’s plea asking for the reversal of the guilty verdict, which was handed to him for killing transgender Jennifer Laude, was struck down by the Court of Appeals in Manila on Monday.

The court upheld the conviction made by a lower court – the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court Branch 74 – saying Pemberton’s defense was flimsy.

Read: US Marine Charged With Murder Of Transgender Woman In Philippines

Pemberton met Laude at the Ambyanz Disco in Olongapo City on Oct. 11, 2014, following which they checked into a local motel. Investigation found that Laude performed oral sex on Pemberton but after the latter found out that she had male genitals, he pushed her.

Pemberton said Laude slapped him, which forced him to choke her. When she became unconscious, he dragged her to the bathroom in the hope to revive her from water in the toilet. His claim is disputed as Laude was found drowned in the shallow water of the toilet, which led to her death.

While the defendant fled the scene, a bellboy from the motel identified Pemberton as Laude’s companion that night.

Despite a self-defense argument, the U.S. Marine was found guilty of homicide by the lower court and faced up to 10 years imprisonment, and was ordered to pay around $100,000 to Laude’s family, mostly as compensation for income lost because of her death, the New York Times reported at the time.

The Court of Appeals increased the civil indemnity and moral damages to be paid to the Laude family by Pemberton from about $2,000 to about $3,000.

“We thus find Pemberton’s defense of an impending grave danger more imaginary than real… In the absence of unlawful aggression, even the privileged mitigating circumstance of incomplete self-defense which Pemberton also invokes cannot be appreciated in his favor… The conviction of Pemberton for homicide is undeniable,” the court reportedly said in its 48-page decision.