University of Makati

School of Law

Legal Medicine

THE JENNIFER LAUDE CASE

SUBMITTED BY:

REGIE REY N. AGUSTIN

OSCAR B. CATOLICO III
GLENN WIL D. EGANO

SUBMITTED TO:

ATTY. IVY PATDU, M.D.

PROFESSOR

DECEMBER 1, 2018
 THE JENNIFER LAUDE CASE

A. BACKGROUND OF THE CASE

 October 11, 2014

Jeffrey "Jennifer" Laude, a 26-year-old Filipino transgender, met a "white foreigner" at

Ambyanz Disco on Magsaysay Drive in Olongapo City while having a drink with her friend,
Mark Clarence Gelviro a.k.a. Barbie.

Laude agreed to go to a motel with the foreigner she just met at around 10 p.m. and the two
headed to Celzone Lodge in Olongapo City. Barbie also tagged along.

Later that night, Laude was found dead in the bathroom of the motel room — neck blackened
with strangulation marks and head rammed into a toilet.

The man who allegedly left her in that state was 19-year-old Joseph Scott Pemberton, a
member of the U.S. Marine Corps 2nd Battalion-9th Marines of the West Pacific Express.

 October 15, 2014

Marilou Laude, Jennifer's sister, filed a murder complaint against Pemberton, who reportedly
remained in Subic, Olongapo City.

 October 17, 2014

The Philippine National Police (PNP) and Regional Crime Laboratory Office officially
released a report confirming that Laude died due to asphyxia.

 October 21, 2014

Pemberton was a no-show at the preliminary investigation at the Olongapo City Prosecutor’s
Office. His lawyer, Rowena Garcia Flores, said that Pemberton was not compelled by the
subpoena to attend the hearing but was asked to submit a counter-affidavit.

 October 24, 2014

Jennifer Laude was laid to rest at the Heritage Memorial Park in Olongapo City.

 October 27, 2014

Pemberton was still a no-show at the preliminary probe. Rowena Garcia Flores,
Pembereton's lawyer, filed a motion to "declare the absence of probable cause for murder or
any other crime." The motion is asking the murder charge to be reduced to homicide, but it
was eventually rejected by the head of the preliminary investigation.

 November 5, 2014

Prosecutors conducted an inspection of the Ambyanz Disco and the Celzone Lodge in
Olongapo. The Olongapo City Prosecutor’s Office granted the Laude family's request for
Pemberton’s buccal swab and fingerprints to be gathered.

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PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION

 November 28, 2014

The prosecution ruled that, based on the forensic test done by local authorities, Pemberton's
DNA did not match any DNA found on pieces of evidence gathered during the probe. The
Olongapo City Prosecutor’s Office submitted the Laude murder case for resolution.

 December 15, 2014

The Olongapo City Prosecutor’s Office found probable cause to file murder charges against
Pemberton. No bail was granted for the capital offense filed. The qualifying circumstances
cited were treachery, abuse of superior strength, and cruelty.

 December 16, 2014

The Olongapo Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 74 issued a warrant of arrest for L/Cpl
Joseph Scott Pemberton.

 December 19, 2014

Pemberton surrendered himself to the jurisdiction of the court, according to Laude family
legal counsel Harry Roque.

Pemberton was booked, a process that included having his mugshots and fingerprints taken
and undergoing a medical exam.

 December 22, 2014

Pemberton asked the DOJ to dismiss the murder case filed against him. He also filed a
motion to downgrade the case from murder to homicide.

 January 27, 2015

DOJ affirmed finding the existence of probable cause against Pemberton for murder.

ARRAIGNMENT

 February 23, 2015

The Olongapo City RTC Branch 74 automatically entered a not guilty plea on Pemberton's
behalf after he refused to enter any plea for the murder case filed against him.

TRIAL FOR THE PROSECUTION

 March 24, 2015

State prosecutors presented Barbie. The witness positively identified Pemberton in court as
the person whom she left the victim with at Celzone Lodge — where the crime allegedly
happened.

 May 18, 2015

Dr. Reynaldo Dave, who conducted an autopsy on Laude's body, took the witness stand
during the continuation of the trial. He said the victim was punched and strangulated before
being drowned to death by her killer.

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 May 19, 2015

Marine Lance Cpl. Jairn Michael Rose testified that Pemberton admitted choking Laude. He
even demonstrated how they were trained in Marines to choke and do an arm lock which
was also the possible cause of Jennifer’s death.

 June 22, 2015

American forensic experts Jessica LeCroy and Derk Dorrien, latent print examiners from the
U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory, revealed that one of the three condoms and a
condom wrapper recovered from the motel room had the fingerprints of Pemberton.

George Jackson, a forensic toxicologist who examined blood samples taken from Laude,
disclosed that she was not under the influence of methamphetamine. The test was taken due
to a report that Laude was using illegal drugs.

TRIAL FOR THE DEFENSE

 August 24, 2015

Pemberton, who took the witness stand for the first time, admitted that he choked Jennifer
Laude after learning that she was also a “man.”

 August 25, 2015

As the last witness of the defense, forensic expert Dr. Raquel Fortun argued that the water
found inside Laude's lungs could be triggered by other factors, such as an existing medical
condition, and could not instantly be concluded as drowning. She also said that Laude could
have still been alive when Pemberton left the motel room, which would mean no murder was
committed.

Pemberton also testified that he dragged Laude's body into the bathroom of the motel room
in an attempt to revive her with water.

 October 20, 2015

The Bureau of Immigration ordered the deportation of Pemberton, deeming him an

undesirable alien. The Bureau said Pemberton posed a risk to public interest.

JUDGMENT

 December 1, 2015

The Olongapo City RTC Branch 74 found Pemberton guilty of homicide — and not murder —
in the death of Laude. He was sentenced to six to 12 years of imprisonment.

 March 29, 2016

The Olongapo Regional Trial Court Branch 74 reduced Pemberton's prison sentence from 6-
12 years to a maximum of 10 years, by virtue of his motion for reconsideration.

 April 10, 2017

The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction of Pemberton for killing Jennifer Laude. His
plea to reverse the guilty verdict was junked because his defense lacked merit. CA also
ordered Pemberton to pay Laude's family P75,000 as civil indemnity and P75,000 as moral
damages. This was an increase from the initial P50,000 that Pemberton was ordered to pay
Laude's family.

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B. DISCUSSIONS AND INSIGHTS

During the investigation, Dr. Maritess Ombao, Philippine National Police medico legal officer
and pathologist, said that Laude died due to asphyxia by drowning, citing tissue samples she
had examined during the autopsy.

Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body

that arises from abnormal breathing.

An example of asphyxia is choking. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects

primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can induce asphyxia,
all of which are characterized by an inability of an individual to acquire sufficient oxygen
through breathing for an extended period of time. Asphyxia can cause coma or death.
Emergency resuscitation measures require rapid and efficient response. One method of
reestablishing normal respiration is cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), a particularly
effective way of dealing with victims of cardiac arrest and near-drowning.

An autopsy report released was released stating that Laude had drowned when her head
was forced into the toilet bowl. The report also showed that Laude was beaten before she
was killed as shown by the bruises and blood clots on her scalp, chest, arms and legs. In
Criminal Investigation the identification of the offender, location and proof of the guilt,
collection and examination of the physical evidences are needed in order to ensure
punishments. Of the various scientific techniques employed by the modern-day criminal
investigations, autopsy plays the most decisive role in resolving a case. Also known as post
mortem examination, autopsy means to “see for yourself”. It is a special surgical operation,
performed by specially trained physicians, on a dead body with a view to discovering the
cause of death. Moreover, a post-mortem report is the best evidence of an unnatural death
that is admissible in evidence before the court as an expert opinion

During the probe, the American latent print examiners from the U.S. Army Criminal
Investigation Laboratory revealed that one of the three condoms and a condom wrapper
recovered from the motel room had the fingerprints of Pemberton, without these findings the
perpetrator could not have been positively identified.

Furthermore, the examination made by the forensic toxicologist on the blood samples taken
from Laude, disclosing that she was not under the influence of methamphetamine
hydrochloride was essential to refute the reports that Laude was using illegal drugs.

Forensic medicine is indeed indispensable in resolving problems of the law and plays an
important role in the administration of justice. The physician, the pathologist, the medical
specialist and the forensic laboratory contribute to the investigation of crimes against the
person, and to the solution of such problems as identification, untoward deaths, apparent
drowning and many others.

With regard to the trial court’s decision, we agree to the findings of the trial court that
Pemberton was the more plausible suspect because he was the only person who had the
motive to kill Laude after he was deceived by latter into believing that he was a woman, when
in fact he was a man when he offered him sex for pay. It is possible that Pemberton could
have been sexually aroused and started reaching for Laude’s genitals, hoping to
consummate the sexual act and when he felt something weird which should not have been
there, he realized what was on top of him was a man. He may have found the situation so
revolting and despicable which overcame his reason. In other words, Pemberton was seized
by homophobic panic which was viewed by the court to be a mitigating factor rather than an
aggravating, setting the tone in our justice system that many have cause to find
disappointing.

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REFERENCES:

http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2015/02/23/Transgender-Jennifer-Laude-murder-case-
accused-US-Marine-Joseph-Scott-Pemberton-timeline-verdict.html

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/how-brutal-motel-killing-of-trans-woman-
by-a-us-marine-became-a-case-that-changed-history/news-
story/9961e2705466dfe78505bdce27f621b6

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Jennifer_Laude

https://www.britannica.com/science/asphyxia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asphyxia

https://globalnation.inquirer.net/122413/pnp-expert-laude-strangled-
drowned#ixzz5YOlubnsp

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