Olongapo court orders release of US soldier

September 2, 2020

The Olongapo City Regional Trial Court has ordered the early release of American soldier Joseph Scott Pemberton, who had convicted for killing a transgender  in 2014.

In an order dated September 1, Judge Roline Ginez-Abalde granted the partial motion for reconsideration of Pemberton and ordered the Bureau of Corrections to release him from detention “unless he is being held for some other lawful cause or causes.”

Pemberton is detained at Camp Aguinaldo.

The judge stressed that Pemberton is "entitled to be released for he had already served the 10-year maximum of his penalty."

Although the US soldier has served five years into his prison term of six to 10 years, the judge ordered Pemberton's release by taking into account  good conduct time allowances (GCTA) he had accumulated.

The lower court said Pemberton had served a total of 2,142 days and earned 1,548 GCTAs.

Taken together, this totals 3,690 days, or 10 years, one month, and 10 days -- more than the 10-year maximum penalty imposed on him, the court said.

The RTC said Pemberton has made a "full payment" of millions of pesos in damages to the heirs of  transgender Jennifer Laude.

Laude's family has asked the trial court to reconsider the release order.

They said there is no proof of Pemberton's supposed good behavior.

"His conduct was never put to test as he never joined other convicts. Had he served his sentence in National Bilibid, maybe his application for good conduct would have some basis," they said in a motion for reconsideration.

The Supreme Court recently granted Pemberton's withdrawal of his petition to reverse his conviction. The case has been declared "closed and terminated."

Pemberton was convicted in 2015 for killing Laude, a 26-year-old transgender woman, who was found dead in the bathroom of a Celzone Lodge room in Olongapo City on October 11, 2014. DMS