The lawyer of convicted United States Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton has asked the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court Branch 72 to turn down the motion for reconsideration which sought to stop his release from detention.
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In a six-page opposition, counsel Rowena Flores told the court that “it is very clear that the Private Complainant’s Motion for Reconsideration should be dismissed outright for lack of personality of the Private Complainant and for utter lack of merit.”
Atty. Virginia Lacsa Suarez filed the motion for reconsideration last Wednesday in behalf of Marilou Laude-Mahait, the sister of transgender Jennifer Laude who was killed by Pemberton in 2014.
“In criminal cases, the authority to represent the plaintiff, the People of the Philippines, is vested solely in the public prosecutor at the Regional Trial Court or the Solicitor General, in case of appeals,” Flores said.
“This power is expressly provided in Section 35, Book IV, Title III, Chapter 12 of the Revised Administrative Code,” she said.
Prior the issuance of the court release order, Flores recounted that “the Office of the Solicitor General filed its Opposition to Pemberton’s Urgent Motion to Order (his) Immediate Release.”
“Jurisprudence has already settled that the interest of the private complainant is limited only to the civil liability arising from the crime,” Flores said.
“Since the judgment debt awarded to Private Complainant has already been paid and satisfied, Private Complainant has already lost the personality to participate in further proceedings in this case, moreso in relation to the service of the sentence imposed by the Court,” added Flores who had publicly declared that a check of P4.6 million has been paid to the Laude family pursuant to the court’s orders to pay the civil damages.
Also, Flores said stopping the release of Pemberton when he already completed already his prison sentence is “not in consonance with basic precepts of fairness and equity.”
Pemberto was convicted of homicide in December 2015 for the killing of Jennifer and was sentenced to imprisonment from six to 10 years.
The court issued the release order after granting the motion of Pemberton who sought his early release by crediting his Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA).
Contrary to the claims of Suarez, Flores said Pemberton is entitled to the GCTA law.
“The GCTA law, which amended some provisions of the Revised Penal Code, is a law of general application. It does not make any distinction as to who is entitled to GCTA on the basis of nationality or even the place where a person is detained or serving sentence. Rather, the GCTA Law expressly disqualifies certain types of convicts or persons deprived of liberty from being granted GCTAs. These include, among others, recidivists, habitual delinquents, and escapees,” Flores said.
“There is no dispute that Pemberton was convicted by final judgment of the crime of Homicide, which is not a heinous crime. Neither is Pemberton a recidivist or a habitual delinquent, as this is the first and only crime that Pemberton has ever been charged with or convicted of. It is also clear that Pemberton has never escaped from confinement, as he has been incarcerated continuously since 22 October 2014,” she argued.