Pemberton lawyer: BuCor officers attested to convicted US Marine‘s ‘good conduct’

The lawyer of US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton, who was found guilty of killing Jennifer Laude in 2014, on Friday said corrections officers have attested to the "good conduct" of the American serviceman.

Lawyer Rowena Garcia Flores said in a court filing that Pemberton has been "guarded everyday 24/7" by officers of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor). He is detained at the Philippine military headquarters in  Camp Aguinaldo.

"These officers also attested to the good conduct of Pemberton, based on their own personal knowledge," the lawyer said.

GMA News Online has reached out to the BuCor for comment but it has yet to reply as of posting time.

GCTA

Flores made the claim in response to the motion filed by Laude's family seeking the reconsideration of an Olongapo court's order for Pemberton's early release due to good conduct time allowances (GCTA).

The Laude family earlier told the court that there was no proof of Pemberton's behavior, conduct and participation in any rehabilitation activities that would earn him GCTAs.

Flores countered that the Laude family merely "speculated" and failed to show any act of Pemberton that violated prison rules.

The lawyer added that the BuCor's certification of good conduct carries with it the "presumption of regularity" which the Laude family failed to disprove.

"Private complainant's speculative and personal opinion of what ought to constitute good conduct cannot overcome such presumption," Flores said in the 6-page opposition.

'Not a heinous crime'

Flores also further argued that Pemberton is entitled to GCTAs because he was not convicted of a heinous crime.

She said the US Marine should not be treated differently than the thousands of inmates who have benefited from the GCTA law, claiming that there is "no substantial distinction between them."

A lawyer for the Laude family, however, earlier said that Pemberton cannot invoke the equal protection clause because there is a difference between foreign military armed forces in the country and other people accused of crimes.

In the 2015 case of Laude vs. Jabalde, the Supreme Court said "there is a substantial basis for a different treatment of a member of a foreign military armed forces allowed to enter our territory and all other accused."

Lawyer Rommel Bagares also said there is no agreement between the Philippines and the United States stating that Pemberton is covered by the GCTA law.

Pemberton was convicted of homicide over the killing of Laude, a 26-year-old Filipino transgender woman, in 2014. He was sentenced to six to 10 years in prison.

He appealed his conviction all the way to the Supreme Court but withdrew his petition this year.

He was ordered released by the trial court despite having served just over five years out of his six-to-10-year prison term.

According to the court, he is entitled to release because he had already exceeded his sentence by a month when his accumulated GCTAs are counted on top of his actual time served.

Philippine authorities have suspended Pemberton's release while waiting for the court to resolve the Laude family's motion for reconsideration. — RSJ, GMA News