The trial of a US Marine accused of killing a transgender woman is underway in the Philippines after a plea bargain was rejected by the victim's family.
Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton appeared in court dressed in a black suit and dark tie for the start of the trial, five months after he allegedly murdered Jennifer Laude in a red light district hotel.
A bellboy in the hotel where Jennifer Laude was killed was the prosecution's first witness in court.
The witness said he saw US Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton at the hotel on the night the transgender woman was found dead.
The prosecution said the US marine's lawyers offered a plea bargain to settle the case, offering almost half a million US dollars in exchange for reducing the charge to homicide, which attracts a shorter prison term.
But the family of the victim said they would not take money from the accused, and wanted him to be placed behind bars.
"No amount of money could pay for the years I spent raising my child," Julita Cabillan, Laude's mother, told reporters.
"What they did to my child was gruesome. Just because we are poor doesn't mean we can't fight for justice."
However one of Pemberton's lawyers, Benjamin Tolosa, insisted the marine's legal team did not offer any money.
"It has been insinuated the demand came from us and that's absolutely false. It's contrary to what happened," Mr Tolosa said.
Pemberton, aged 19 at the time of the killing, would face 40 years in jail if found guilty of murder.
The maximum penalty for homicide in the Philippines is 20 years in jail.
A spokesman at the US embassy in Manila declined to comment on the case.
The trial is scheduled to proceed until September.
Source: abc.net.au
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