A U.S. Marine who was found guilty last month of killing a transgender woman in the Philippines a year ago has asked a court there to reverse his conviction, grant him bail and reduce a jail term that could keep him in prison for up to 12 years.

Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton was convicted of homicide in the death of Jennifer Laude, whom he met earlier that October 2014 night in a disco. The pair checked into a hotel room, where they had sex, during which Pemberton discovered Laude’s male genitalia.

He was found guilty of strangling her, then dunking her head in a toilet bowl and choking her to death. Prosecutors sought a conviction on murder charges, but the judge in the matter found him guilty of the lesser charge of homicide and gave him a lighter sentence than what the victim’s family requested.

The appeals court began hearing Pemberton’s case today, and his attorney said they are requesting an acquittal, claiming Pemberton attacked Laude because he felt he had been “conned.” The attorney, however, claimed Pemberton never meant to kill Laude and noted that he voluntarily turned himself into authorities following the incident.

The case was a flash point throughout 2015, creating new controversy and inflaming persistent anger over the U.S. military presence in the Philippines — long a source of resentment for Filipino nationalists and those on the political left. The case sent ripples through Hawaii, where Filipinos are the single largest ethnic group in the state.

Pemberton, 21, remains in custody at the main U.S. military camp in Manila, which also fans flames of controversy in the matter: The victim’s family requested that he be incarcerated in an ordinary jail, causing many to see his on-base detention as another example of special treatment afforded U.S. military personnel in the Philippines.