HIV-Infected Man Charged With Assault

**Calliander** · 31 Mar 2004, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by Cheebs

How ever, you DO NOT expect someone to be out there actively trying to cause an accident and crash other people's cars out of spite.

Ah, however, by speeding or driving too slow or not using turn signals or whatever, you ARE actively trying to cause an accident. You know the laws, you know how to drive properly, and are purposefully ignoring all of that. I don't know if that's spite, but just like we don't know whether or not the sex was unprotected we also don't know he was doing it out of spite. He may have just not cared, like many drivers.

**Kenshin** · 31 Mar 2004, 05:09 PM

He knew he was infected with HIV, and it was his responsibility to inform the women that he had it if he intended to have unprotected sex. I seriously doubt the women were forcing him not to wear a condom.

It's not quite the same as voluntarily getting in a car with a drunk driver: with a drunk driver, there's obvious signs he's drunk.

Yes, he needs to rot in jail. He intentionally ruined other people's lives.

**Joust Williams** · 31 Mar 2004, 05:09 PM

I think that not caring would be spiteful because unless you are completely dense (not you, but the general you), you know that other people don't want to contract HIV.

**Calliander** · 31 Mar 2004, 05:19 PM

Originally Posted by Kenshin

He knew he was infected with HIV, and it was his responsibility to inform the women that he had it if he intended to have unprotected sex. I seriously doubt the women were forcing him not to wear a condom.

It's not quite the same as voluntarily getting in a car with a drunk driver: with a drunk driver, there's obvious signs he's drunk.

Yes, he needs to rot in jail. He intentionally ruined other people's lives.

All correct, but it's not assault.

Originally Posted by BoBVila

I think that not caring would be spiteful because unless you are completely dense (not you, but the general you), you know that other people don't want to contract HIV.

Yeah, I guess that's true. But does that make people who speed and whatnot spiteful, too? Hrm...

**Joust Williams** · 31 Mar 2004, 05:25 PM

I don't drive currently (have my license of course, but don't use it). I don't have much of a need and it's cheap for me to bus. But if you are driving recklessly near anyone else, then you are either spiteful or selfish. Even if I didn't, I still think there's a difference between knowingly infecting someone with a currently terminal virus and trying to get to the store or whatever 30 seconds faster unaware of what can happen (sometimes people just speed, but I doubt people forget that they have HIV and it's going to affect other people if you do something that everyone knows will propogate it).

**Spent** · 31 Mar 2004, 05:35 PM

These aren't seeming like one night stands here. He has kids with two of the women. I can see how you can say it's thier faut, but you guys are rediculous for weighing into it the amount you are. The difference between the womens fault and his is they thought it was potential when it was almost certainly infact going to happen. The guy needs to go to jail.

**Kenshin** · 31 Mar 2004, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by Mike

All correct, but it's not assault.

It's assault because there's no specific term for intentional infection. Technically he assaulted them with a deadly weapon, a virus, even if it doesn't meet the traditional definition of "weapon". (Note that anthrax is classified as a "weapon of mass destruction"?)