HIV carrier guilty in sex case
A Halifax, Novia Scotia man has been found guilty of aggravated sexual assault for not disclosing his HIV status to his former girlfriend. He will be sentenced in August.
Justice Arthur Pickup, of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, believed the complainant in this ‘he said/she said’ case. He also inadvertently explained why some people with HIV do not disclose their HIV status.
There were a number of other inconsistencies in Mr. X’s evidence that didn’t sit well with the judge, including the fact that he couldn’t pin down exactly when he had the important talk with his ex-girlfriend.
“Disclosure of an HIV status to a partner would be difficult and memorable, I think,” the judge said.
Story from The Chronicle Herald below.
HIV carrier guilty in sex case
By JENNIFER STEWART Court ReporterA Halifax man living with HIV was found guilty Thursday of aggravated sexual assault for not telling his ex-girlfriend about his health condition before having unprotected sex with her.
BX, 36, was diagnosed with HIV in 1995, but his ex-girlfriend, who cannot be named, was under the impression he only tested positive in March 2006.
“He’s been lying to his friends, his family, to anyone who will listen,” the victim said in a brief phone interview Thursday. “He knew.
“The verdict was what it should have been. That’s all I can say.”
The 37-year-old Halifax woman agreed to keep dating Mr. X after he told her, thinking he had just found out himself.
She ended the relationship and went to the police in September 2006, when she discovered from another ex-girlfriend of Mr. X that he’s known about his condition for much longer.
Consent was the main issue in this trial, Justice Arthur Pickup said during his half-hour decision in Nova Scotia Supreme Court.
He explained that although a person may freely agree to have unprotected sex with someone, the consent is moot if the person was unaware of the partner’s HIV status beforehand.
That was the case here, Justice Pickup said.
During the two-day trial last month, the victim testified that had she known Mr. X was infected, she never would have started a sexual relationship with him.
She told the court they had sex between 100 and 150 times. They didn’t always use a condom, she said, although Mr. X insists they always practised safe sex.
Justice Pickup said it came down to the credibility of Mr. X and his ex-girlfriend, who has so far tested negative for HIV.
The woman said she got tested as soon as she found out Mr. X’s status in March 2006. However, Mr. X testified that he was upfront about his health when the pair started dating a year earlier.
Justice Pickup said it “didn’t make sense” that the woman would wait a year to get tested if Mr. X had told her about his condition in March 2005.
There were a number of other inconsistencies in Mr. X’s evidence that didn’t sit well with the judge, including the fact that he couldn’t pin down exactly when he had the important talk with his ex-girlfriend.
“Disclosure of an HIV status to a partner would be difficult and memorable, I think,” the judge said.
Mr. X sat quietly beside his lawyer as the guilty verdict was read out Thursday. A man and woman, believed to be Mr. X’s parents, sat a few rows behind him.
A presentence report was requested, and Mr. X will return to court on Aug. 14 for sentencing.
Until then, he remains free on a $25,000 recognizance on charges stemming from the aggravated sexual assault case.
Police allege Mr. X contacted a Crown witness and asked the man to lie for him in court.
Mr. X is charged with one count each of obstructing justice, intimidating a witness and breaching a court order.
He will be back in Halifax provincial court on that matter later this month.
Defence lawyer: Acquit my HIV-positive client
The lawyer for an HIV-positive Halifax man says there is more than enough reasonable doubt to find her client not guilty of aggravated sexual assault.
BX, 36, is on trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court for endangering the life of his ex-girlfriend by allegedly not telling her that he was infected before they had sex.
The 37-year-old Halifax woman, who cannot be named because of a publication ban, has tested negative for the virus.
In her closing arguments Tuesday, defence lawyer Nicole Campbell said there are two key points to focus on in this case: did Mr. X disclose his condition and did the couple have unprotected sex.
She said she has “difficulties” with the complainant’s credibility, which she challenged during the two-day trial last month.
Ms. Campbell questioned why the woman didn’t go to the police as soon as Mr. X told her that he had HIV, which the woman says happened in March 2006.
Mr. X, on the other hand, testified that he told the woman about his condition at the start of their relationship in March 2005 and she was OK with it.
“It seems this case always returns to reasonable doubt,” Ms. Campbell told the judge.
But Crown attorney Mark Hareema argued that the complainant was “very clear” in her testimony that she didn’t report Mr. X’s behaviour because she thought he had just found out he was infected.
In fact, Mr. X was diagnosed in 1995 and had contracted the virus to his previous girlfriend.
The complainant said when she discovered the truth in September 2006, she went straight to the police.
Mr. Hareema suggested the judge not read too much into the woman’s actions toward the end of her relationship with Mr. X.
“Some of our most unwise decisions come out of love,” he said.
Justice Arthur Pickup will deliver his decision in court on May 15.
