[Update]Australia: No more appeals for Andree Chad Parenzee

An HIV-positive man jailed for having unprotected sex with three Adelaide women has lost a bid to have his case reopened.

Andre Chad Parenzee, 37, had tried to appeal against his conviction after being jailed for nine years in 2007 on three counts of endangering life.

He was charged after one of his victims, a mother of two, became infected with HIV.

In a majority verdict in South Australia’s Court of Criminal Appeal, Parenzee’s application for an extension of time to appeal and his application for leave to appeal were both dismissed.

In a two-one judgment, the court ruled that both his applications were incompetent.

Chief Justice John Doyle said that while he would have granted leave to appeal, he would have rejected the final appeal anyway.

He said evidence from doctors who dealt with Parenzee provided a solid basis for the jury to find that he knew that by having unprotected sex he would create a real, or significant risk, of infecting a woman with HIV.

“The evidence that Mr Parenzee gave about his state of knowledge and belief was, on my own assessment, unconvincing,” Justice Doyle said.

“In any event, it was certainly open to the jury to reject much of his evidence.”

In his appeal, Parenzee had argued there was no quantifiable evidence at his trial to prove he was likely to be putting anyone’s life in danger when he had sex, or that he knew he was doing so.

“There was no evidence Mr Parenzee was told that having unprotected sex would lead to a person’s life being in danger,” his lawyer Andrew Tokley said.

“Parenzee believed that if he didn’t ejaculate while having unprotected sex there was no risk to his partner.”

Prosecutor Martin Hinton QC said Parenzee knew about the risks of unprotected sex within weeks of his diagnosis but had failed to tell his partner.

“He said he had cancer … she is never told he has HIV until very late.”

Last year, Parenzee lost a previous bid to appeal against his conviction after unsuccessfully arguing that HIV did not exist and could not be sexually transmitted.

An application to appeal his conviction to the High Court was expected.

With time off for good behaviour, Parenzee will be eligible to be released in 2011.

A MAN with HIV convicted of endangering the lives of three women by having unprotected sex with them is again trying to appeal against his convictions.

Chad Parenzee, 37, was found guilty in 2006 of three counts of endangering life and was sentenced last year to nine years in jail.

One of his victims contracted AIDS.

Parenzee has already lost two bids to appeal against his conviction by a South Australian Supreme Court jury and yesterday applied to the Court of Criminal Appeal for permission to appeal again.

His lawyer, Andrew Tokley, argued there had not been enough evidence at Parenzee’s trial to convict him.

“The question is whether at the end of the day that the evidence establishes or would prove to a jury beyond reasonable doubt that the accused knew that his actions were likely to lead to a particular outcome,” he said.

Mr Tokley said there was no evidence Parenzee was told that having unprotected sex would lead to a person’s life being in danger.

Parenzee told his trial he used the “withdrawal method” when having sex with the women and thought that was a safe way of having sex.

Crown prosecutor Martin Hinton, QC, said Parenzee presented as a “particularly unsatisfactory witness” at his trial and that he was aware of the risks of transmitting HIV within weeks of being diagnosed.

“It was open to the jury he knew the risks he was exposing these women to,” Mr Hinton said.

Parenzee’s appeal also featured argument over the definition of the word “likely” in the charge.

Last year Parenzee lost a bid to appeal against his conviction, arguing HIV did not cause AIDS and could not be transmitted sexually.

The appeal was dismissed with Justice Sulan describing the argument as “implausible”.

The CCA reserved its decision on the latest appeal.

A South Australian Supreme Court jury last January found Andre Chad Parenzee, 36, guilty of three counts of endangering life by having unprotected sex with the women.

All three women were former girlfriends of Parenzee, with one, a mother of two, later testing positive to the virus.

The woman had lived with Parenzee for two years, but he did not tell her he was HIV-positive until his sister informed her, the court heard.

Then, after the relationship ended, he exposed another woman to the virus, despite police already laying an endangering life charge against him.

In sentencing, Justice John Sulan said on Thursday Parenzee still had not come to terms with the fact he had contracted HIV, or the damage caused.

Justice Sulan ordered a five-year non-parole period and backdated the sentence to January last year.

The sentence had been delayed after Parenzee unsuccessfully appealed his conviction on the basis HIV did not exist, did not cause AIDS and was not sexually transmitted.

Parenzee lost a second appeal before the full bench of the Court of Appeal last month, after arguing the single appeal judge failed to take into account the different streams of thought on the cause of AIDS.