Jury Finds Saliva Of HIV-Positive Man 'A Deadly Weapon'

[ted_bloody_maul]

A 42 year-old HIV-positive man from Texas who spat at a police officer during his 2006 arrest for being drunk and disorderly has been sentenced to 35 years in prison by a Dallas court and must serve at least half of his sentence before being eligible for parole because the jury found that his saliva was a deadly weapon.

The case, which was reported by more than 175 news outlets yesterday, has outraged UK HIV organisations, particularly since only three reports – from The New York Times, USA Today and the Mississippi Clarion-Ledger – actually mention that HIV cannot be transmitted via spitting.

'It is shocking that in the same country which has some of the most advanced research into HIV and its treatments, there can be such ignorance within the legal system as to how HIV is transmitted,” said Deborah Jack, Executive Director of the National AIDS Trust. “This is not justice but a victory for fear, myth and prejudice. Such a verdict - contradicted by all the science - must constitute a breach of Mr Campbell's right to a fair trial.”

Continues

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/57E118E4 ... 67AF1F.asp

Really quite a worrying story. Save me from trial by a jury of my peers if they're going to be so ill-informed.

 

[PeniG]

Yeah, this seriously pisses me off. I suppose they rationalized it as coming under the same heading as robbing a convenience store with a toy gun, or even a finger under the shirt - if the victim believes a deadly weapon to be in the offing, the penalty is the same. But in such a case, the perpertrator is attempting to deceive the victim into thinking there's a deadly weapon in the case; and besides, the victim in this case is a cop. If cops don't have the information necessary to handle perpetrators with common communicable diseases, that's a serious lapse of training on the part of the police department and not the accused's fault in any way, shape, or form.

No, this is a case of "HIV+ people are GAY and GAYS are EVIL and EVIL must be PUNISHED no matter how much it costs the state or how much more efficient it would be to humane." I'm a misanthrope for a reason.

 

[stonedog2]

Dreadful. And very depressing

Kath


PS I'm opening a book on how long it takes for some twonk to attempt to retry it as a capital case.....

 

[markbellis]

It's just not true to say the man was sentenced to 35 years for spitting while HIV positive - he had a lot of aggravating factors.

The link was to an advocacy group's statement, not a news story - they don't mention that the police officer said that the suspect spit into his eye and mouth - there has been a case of saliva borne HIV being transmitted between two individuals with gum disease and who probably had blood in their saliva ( http://www.redcross.org/services/hss/tips/openkiss.html ), so the possibility did exist.

I don't think AIDS groups should be trying to get a lighter sentence for anybody with the suspect's prior record of jail time, and he also bite and spat at other people - this suggests he had intent to give others HIV - whether he could have or not isn't relevant when you have intent.

I don't think TB and hepatitis support groups would do the same for someone in a similar case as the suspect.

 

[tastyintestines]

Peni Do you know that he is actually gay or do you just want it to be that way?