Case overview
On October 11, 2014, Jennifer Laude (Tagalog pronunciation: [ˈlaʊdɛ]), a Filipina trans woman, was killed by Joseph Scott Pemberton, a Lance Corporal in the United States Marine Corps in Olongapo, Philippines. On December 15, 2014, the Olongapo City Prosecutor's Office of the Philippine Department of Justice found probable cause to charge Pemberton with murder and that day he was charged with murder in front of the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court Branch 74. [1]
Pemberton admitted assaulting Laude and deployed a trans panic defense in his 2015 trial. His charge was downgraded from murder to homicide by a judge in 2015, and he was convicted on December 1, 2015. On February 23, 2015, Pemberton was brought to court in Olongapo and the court entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf. [2]
