[Update]US: New Jersey man convicted of HIV non-disclosure appeals ‘open ended’ reimbursement of medical and psychological expenses for the two female complainants

SOMERSET – For two former lovers of an ex-police captain who hid his HIV-positive status, the anxiety surrounding the results of their next blood test is a specter that still haunts them daily. Two victims testified, tearfully at times, during a restitution hearing in Somerset County Superior Court on Thursday in the case of  X, a retired Plainfield police captain who had sex with the women without telling them he was HIV-positive.

“I was scared to death I was going to contract the disease,” said one of the victims, identified in the complaint as a 61-year-old Bernards woman who had sexual relations with X from February 2011 to August 2011. “You felt like you’ve been betrayed.”

For the past four years, the women have lived in fear of each blood test returning a diagnosis of HIV, and they’ve struggled with the betrayal by a man they once loved.

One victim has been tested more than 10 times since learning X had the HIV virus in 2011. The other has been tested about eight to 10 times. All the tests have been negative.

“My doctor is confident I’m not going to contract the disease but for my own state of mind, I’ll continue to get tested for the rest of my life,” said the second victim, identified in the complaint as a 45-year-old woman from North Plainfield who had a sexual relationship with X from May 2008 to January 2011.

“We don’t know enough about the disease to know that I won’t get it.”

Under a plea bargain, X, 67, of North Plainfield, pleaded guilty to two counts of a diseased person committing an act of sexual penetration, a third-degree crime. He faced a maximum of 10 years in prison after failing in an attempt to get the charges dismissed.

X, who was head of the Plainfield police narcotics and vice squad and was a police officer for 28 years, was charged in October 2011 when two women came forward to say they had sexual relationships with him but he did not tell them he had HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

On April 10, 2015, X was sentenced to 364 days in the Somerset County Jail. He was placed on three years probation and ordered to reimburse the two victims for their out-of-pocket medical and psychological expenses by Judge Julie M. Marino, who also presided over the hearing on Thursday.

But X, who was released from jail on July 15, is pleading financial hardship. His attorney, Michael Mitzner, is contesting the medical and psychiatric expenses incurred by the victims.

RELATED:

During the hearing, Mitzner cross-examined the victims and meticulously reviewed the documentation of their doctor visits, questioning if the visits were related to their HIV testing and counseling or another medical issue.

On the witness stand, both victims became emotional at times, with the one identified as a 45-woman from North Plainfield engaging in a shouting match with Mitzner.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. He did,” said that victim, who left the courtroom and burst into tears in the hallway after testifying when the court recessed for lunch. “I have to sit there and explain myself.”

The 61-year-old victim from Bernards no longer undergoes counseling and said she’ll be tested for the HIV virus this year and next and then discontinue testing. The 45-year-old North Plainfield woman wants to continue counseling but said she can’t afford it. She stopped in 2013.

While Mitzner said his client is willing to make restitution, he doesn’t want to be responsible for the open-ended commitment the North Plainfield woman is seeking. He testified that he’s living off his $4,411.17 monthly-pension and $156 monthly social security and can’t work because of health reasons.

X, who showed no remorse on the witness stand, said he’s living with his son and his family and is paying $2,000 a month in rent. He owns a condo in Virginia and pays $536 a month in rent and fees. The judge questioned why he’s paying his own son so much in rent and why he can’t he live in his condo in Virginia.

X said that’s the home his son chose to buy for his wife and two kids. He said he couldn’t move to Virginia because of his court issues. He added he’s paying $1,500 a month in lawyer fees and is facing other fines imposed by the court.

Marino has asked Mitzner and assistant prosecutor Robin Yerich to submit their closing arguments in writing within the next 10 days.

“I just need to put closure to this whole incident, what X did to me and others,” said the North Plainfield woman. “I just want to move on with my life.”

The retired Plainfield police captain who had sex with two women without telling them he was HIV-positive was sentenced Friday to 364 days in the Somerset County Jail.

X, who was led away in handcuffs, will be placed on three years probation and must reimburse the two victims for their out-of-pocket medical expenses, Judge Julie M. Marino ruled. He’s also required to undergo a psychological evaluation and treatment if recommended. He has 11 days jail credit.

X, 67, of North Plainfield pleaded guilty to two counts of a diseased person committing an act of sexual penetration, a third-degree crime. He faced a maximum of 10 years in prison after failing in an attempt to get the charges dismissed.

X, who was head of the Plainfield police narcotics and vice squad, was charged in October 2011 when two women came forward to say they had sexual relationships with him but he did not tell them he had HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

According to the complaint against X, a 45-year-old woman from North Plainfield told authorities she had a relationship with X from May 2008 to January 2011.

The complaint also said a 61-year-old Bernards woman had sexual relations with him from February 2011 to August 2011.

X retired as a captain in 2000 after nearly 28 years with the Plainfield Police Department, according public employment records.

X, 67, will serve 364 days in the county jail and be placed on three years probation under the terms of the plea agreement made with the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office before he was scheduled to go on trial before Superior Court Judge Julie Marino.

X will also be required to reimburse the two victims for their out-of-pocket medical expenses for HIV/AIDS testing and psychological counseling.

X, free on $25,000 bail pending his sentencing on March 13, is also prohibited from having any contact with the two women.

X pleaded guilty to two counts of a diseased person committing an act of sexual penetration, a third-degree crime. He faced a maximum of 10 years in prison.

X was charged in October 2011 when two women came forward to say they had sexual relationships with X but he did not tell them he had HIV.

According to the complaint against X, a 45-year-old woman from North Plainfield told authorities she had a relationship with X from May 2008 to January 2011.

The complaint also said a 61-year-old Bernards woman had sexual relations with him from February 2011 to August 2011.

X, a North Plainfield resident, is retired from the Plainfield Police Department where he served as head of its narcotics and vice bureau.

The state Supreme Court will not hear an appeal by a retired Plainfield police captain accused of having sex with two women without telling them he was HIV-positive, his attorney said today. A state appeals court in July ruled a jury could listen to an audio recording in which X’s doctor allegedly informs one of the women Martina is HIV-positive.

A state appeals court ruled today that prosecutors cannot access the medical records of a retired Plainfield police captain accused of having sexual relationships with two women when he was HIV-positive, according to court documents. But the appellate judges said a jury may listen to a recording of a visit with the man’s doctor, in which the physician informed one of the women the man was HIV-positive.

X was arrested in October 2011, and indicted in December 2011 on two counts of a diseased person committing an act of sexual penetration. X retired as a captain in 2000 after nearly 28 years with Plainfield Police Department, according to court documents and public employment records. The appellate decision states one woman informed the other woman in August 2011 that X was HIV-positive. The second woman and X then visited with his doctor, who told her X had been diagnosed with HIV and that she should be tested due to the risk of infection, the decision states. The woman recorded that conversation and gave the tape to the prosecutor’s office, the decision states.

The appellate judges said prosecutors cannot obtain the medical records, in part because state regulations prohibit disclosure in this case, the decision states. Those records also are protected by the “patient-physician privilege,” the decision states. But the audio recording is admissible, because X allowed the woman to meet with his doctor and thus “waived the privilege with regard to the meeting,” according to the appellate decision.

X has argued he never gave permission to his doctor to disclose his medical history to the woman, and that the information provided in that meeting cannot be used against him, court documents state. In a phone interview today, Michael Mitzner, who is identified in court documents as X’s attorney, praised the ruling on the medical records, but said the appellate judges “made a mistake” in permitting use of the audio recording.

Ottawa police have charged X, 65, of North Plainfield, N.J., with one count of aggravated sexual assault resulting from alleged incidents between July and September 2006. The complainant came forward in May 2012 and an investigation began then. Police obtained the accused’s medical records from the U.S., which took a few months, before laying the charge.

X was also charged in New Jersey in the fall of 2011 for allegedly having sex with two women, 45 and 61, without disclosing his HIV-positive status, according to multiple U.S. media reports. One woman was allegedly involved with Martina from May 2008 to June 2010 while the other from February to August 2011, reports said.