4 US military men to testify in Laude case

MANILA, Philippines – At least 4 members of the US military will be called as witnesses by the prosecution in the trial of murdered transgender Filipino woman Jennifer Laude.

Olongapo City Chief Prosecutor Emelie de los Santos identified the 4 US marines who were called as witnesses: Sergeant Christopher Miller, a rifle watchman; Sergeant Daniel Pulido; Lance Corporal Bennett Dahl; and Corporal Jairn Rose.

All 4 met with government prosecutors led by De los Santos at the Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ) in preparation for their testimony in the murder case where US marine Joseph Scott Pemberton stands as the accused.

The foreign witnesses’ meeting with De los Santo lasted for 7 hours.

According to De Los Santos, Pulido, Dahl and Rose were Pemberton’s friends and left the ship at the same time last October 11, 2014. She said Pemberton told Rose and Miller everything that happened that night.

DOJ Undersecretary Jose Justiniano, who is overseeing the Pemberton case, said that the US servicemen returned to the Philippines to honor the Philippine-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and vowed to cooperate with Philippine authorities in the investigation.

Justiniano said that the US marines, who would stand as witnesses for the prosecution on the May 18, 19, 25, and 26 trial dates.

The servicemen said “they were just together at Ambyanz Disco and they saw Pemberton and another person, whom they thought was a woman.”

The US servicemen told the US Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) they saw someone else with Pemberton, but they claimed to not know who he was with.

This dilemma could easily be rectified, according to the DOJ, because they could just show a picture of Laude, and the witnesses could indicate if this was the same person they saw Pemberton with at the bar. – Rappler.com