Laude camp wants judge in murder case out

Public prosecutors on Monday filed a motion to recuse Olongapo City Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde from the Jeffrey (Jennifer) Laude murder case.

In a text message, Olongapo City chief prosecutor Emilie Fe Delos Santos confirmed that they filed the motion at the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court.

Delos Santos said that Ginez-Jabalde was a classmate of Rowena Garcia-Flores, the legal counsel of defendant Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton, at San Beda Law School (class of 1989).

Pemberton, who is currently detained at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, has been charged in the death of Laude, a transgender Filipina who was found dead in a motel bathroom on October 11 last year.

Laude was last seen with Pemberton in the motel, witnesses said.

Earlier, Pemberton's lawyer said that the prosecution panel also has ties with the judge. Flores said that Delos Santos was a classmate of the judge's husband.

In December, Ginez-Jabalde granted the defense's motion to suspend the trial for 60 days. — BM, GMA News