Marine Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton testified yesterday in his trial for the murder of Fillipina transgender woman Jennifer Laude.
Reporters have not been allowed in the court room, so all information about the proceedings has come from news conferences held by and other communications from the various lawyers.
Pemberton testified yesterday that his sister is a lesbian, so he is not a homophobe...as if his sister being lesbian automatically implies he could not be transphobic.
Then he proceeded to prove that statement to be in error.
Pemberton testified that he had gotten drunk while on furlough in Olongapo City and had been deceived by transgender sex workers Barbie Gelviro and Jennifer Laude.
Aside, about Pretty Little Liars, but applicable here from AutoStraddle:
The hands down most damaging trope about trans women is that they are deceitful. That they get into romantic relationships by lying about who they are, by withholding information, and tricking people into loving them. Many, many people truly believe this lie and use it to justify murdering, and sexually and physically abusing trans women. That’s a real life one-to-one correlation. The media portrays trans women as deceptive monsters; real life people kill and beat real life trans women.
Gelviro is alleged to have performed oral sex on Pemberton twice in a motel room and was then sent away to get some condoms. Pemberton then reached down to fondle Laude's genitals and said he was shocked at what he discovered and pushed Laude away. Pemberton says Laude then slapped him, so Pemberton began choking her. He continued to do so until Laude passed out. Pemberton then pulled Laude to the toilet and doused her with water, trying to resuscitate her, he says.
Laude's autopsy found tht she died from asphyxiation by drowning.
Pemberton told the court he thought Laude just lost consciousness after he strangled her, which he considered an act of self-defense.
--Harry Roque, lawyer for Laude's family
Pemberton's lawyer, Rowena Garcia-Flores said that discovering that he was having sex with a man "caused passion and obfuscation" and "he did not intend to commit so grave a wrong." She said Pemberton "acted in self-defense and to protect his honor and life… and acted in immediate vindication of the wrong done to him."
He said they began fighting when he discovered that she had a penis. In his testimony, Corporal Pemberton said that he pushed Ms. Laude, she slapped him, he punched her, then he choked her with an arm lock until she was no longer moving.
He also testified that Ms. Laude was still breathing but appeared to be unconscious after being put into the arm lock. He said he then brought her to the bathroom to try to revive her and left her slumped over the toilet. He said he then took a taxi back to his ship, where he told a fellow Marine, “I left her unconscious.”
--Prosecutor Emilie Fe Delos Santos
Pemberton testified, ‘I felt like I was raped by Laude'. He was repulsed, felt violated and angry; that he would not have agreed to have sex with him if he knew he was a man.
--Garcia-Flores
If convicted of murder, Pemberton could be sentenced to 40 years in jail. If convicted of the lesser charge of homicide, the sentence would be 12-20 years. In the Philippines, there are no jury trials, and cases are decided by a judge.