Giving AIDS to your partner .. are you responsible

[Poser]

The Canadian Press

Date: Tuesday May. 24, 2011 1:27 PM ET

HAMILTON, Ont. — Testimony from a man believed to be the first in Canada convicted of murder through HIV transmission has been put off until Wednesday.

Johnson Aziga was set to take the stand today at his dangerous offender hearing after two other witnesses to apologize to his victims.

But his lawyers asked for an adjournment after those witnesses didn't show up, saying Aziga hadn't expected to testify so soon and wasn't mentally prepared to do so.

The 54-year-old was found guilty in April 2009 of two counts of first-degree murder, 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of attempted aggravated sexual assault.

He has never spoken publicly, but his lawyers said last week he wanted to express his remorse and try to explain himself after court heard victim impact statements.

Aziga's convictions are related to 11 women with whom he had unprotected sex and did not tell them he had the virus that causes AIDS

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20110524/HIV-murder-testify-110524/



is he resonsible if he did not know better?

.

[Solachica]

The women can't take part fault to? They chose to have the unprotected sex.

[Poser]

The women can't take part fault to? They chose to have the unprotected sex.

shouldn't he have told them .. and .. then they could choose if they wanted unprotected sex...

.

[letric]

Indeed.

[Poser]

but Sola has a very good point that needs exploring ...

why have unprotected sex....

[letric]

but Sola has a very good point that needs exploring ...

why have unprotected sex....

Other than your wife or significant other, protection must be used.

[Poser]

Other than your wife or significant other, protection must be used.

are you sure about that ...

.

[letric]

are you sure about that ...

.

Love without trust is not love. Yes, I am sure ...

[edyle]

10 counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of attempted aggravated sexual assault.


This guy is a #######ing RAPIST.

Let's not confuse the issue and make it about a virus that he so happened to have.

[Poser]

Aziga claims 'racist' jury led to murder conviction

HAMILTON — An HIV-positive man convicted of murder for having unprotected sex with two women who died of AIDS-related cancers denies being the one who got them infected — and says he was only convicted because the jury was racist.


"It was a biased jury, which didn't have race representation," said Johnson Aziga Friday at his dangerous offender hearing at the Ontario Superior Court. "The jury was racist."


The Ugandan refugee claims the jury was against him from the start because it had "no blacks." He also attributed a perceived bias to the stigma that surrounds AIDS.


Aziga is the first person in Canada to be found guilty of murder through HIV transmission.


Earlier Friday, the 54-year-old admitted during his third day of testimony that he exposed 11 women to the human immunodeficiency virus after he continued having sex without condoms for eight years following his positive diagnosis in 1996.


Two of his sexual partners have since died, five others contracted HIV, and the remaining four tested negative but still remain traumatized from their experiences with him. One of the women was his girlfriend up until his arrest in 2003.


In 2009, he was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, multiple counts of aggravated assault and one count of attempted aggravated assault.


Aziga, a highly educated, former high-ranking public servant, continued to deny he was the one who transmitted the virus to the women.


"That's an issue of science — chance and probability," he repeated on the witness stand, dressed in a grey suit with his ankles in shackles.


Aziga met some of the women in bars and clubs in the Hamilton area. The others were his co-workers with the Ontario government and one was his neighbour. They ranged in age from 28 to 51 years old.


At one point during the cross-examination, Shea played a video of one of the women giving her deathbed statement to the police.


His eyes cast down, Aziga would not watch the video of his former lover, which was taped by police shortly before her death. In the video, a skeletal, nearly bald S.B. is lying in a hospital bed, her mouth gaping and unable to speak. She responds to the police officer with small nods. The constant, eerie beeping of her ventilator machine can be heard throughout the video.


After watching it, the father of three acknowledged he robbed the women of their right to make an informed decision about whether they wanted to have sex with him by not disclosing his HIV-status.


"What do you want me to say? What can I say?" asked an agitated Aziga. "It's tragic. It's sad."


He has given a number of reasons for why he didn't tell the women about his HIV status, including that he was afraid of losing companionship, he was not counselled properly on how to do so by public health officials and that his ex-wife made him a "monster" and "morally dead." Aziga also blames his culture for not making it easy to divulge personal information.


The Crown is seeking dangerous offender status for Aziga, arguing that he preyed on his sexual partners and, on several occasions, lied to these long-term girlfriends about his HIV status when directly asked.


Shea maintains that Aziga shows little remorse for the pain and suffering he put his victims through and does not repent his actions.


During the cross-examination, she asked him if he was ready to let the victims move on by resigning to serve his life sentence for the murders or if he was still preparing to appeal the convictions.


"Why should I?" retorted Aziga. "I cannot definitely tell you that I'm abandoning my appeal."


On Wednesday, Aziga personally apologized to the women for the first time in a two-page statement he read aloud in court. Most of the statement was about his own suffering.


On Thursday, he admitted that he'd be willing to engage in unprotected sex if he is released from prison if the woman told him she was a "risk taker."


Ontario Superior Court Justice Thomas Lofchik has to determine if Aziga will continue to pose a safety risk once he finishes his sentence. Currently, his viral load is undetectable if he continues to take his HIV medication.


If Aziga is designated a dangerous offender, he will face an indefinite prison term until he is eligible for a parole review in seven years. He already faces an automatic life sentence without a chance of parole for 25 years for the murder convictions.


The proceedings will resume June 27 with closing submissions by the Crown. Lofchik will schedule his decision at a later date.




Read more: http://www.canada.com/news/Aziga+claims+racist+jury+murder+conviction/4851467/story.html#ixzz1Nfo73d4c

[Lover]

He did not inform the women because he did not care, not because of the reasons he stated! He even says that he would continue to have un-protected sex if his partner tells him that she is a 'risk taker.'

I do not get the feeling that he feels any remorse for his victims. The video of his dying past lover may have jarred him for a while but that is as far as it goes.

This man needs to take full responsibility for his crimes! End of story!

[edyle]

It's a rediculous law.

[edyle]

He did not inform the women because he did not care, not because of the reasons he stated! He even says that he would continue to have un-protected sex if his partner tells him that she is a 'risk taker.'

I do not get the feeling that he feels any remorse for his victims. The video of his dying past lover may have jarred him for a while but that is as far as it goes.

This man needs to take full responsibility for his crimes! End of story!

The way I see it, he committed no crime of murder unless he raped somebody; in which case it would not be first degree murder.

[Poser]

The way I see it, he committed no crime of murder unless he raped somebody; in which case it would not be first degree murder.

some people are leaning towrds that view ...

.

[edyle]

some people are leaning towrds that view ...

.

One has to make a distinction between an actual crime, and activities of .... well.... lowlife. The man might be selfish and his behaviour selffish, but that does not constitute a crime.

[Lover]

One has to make a distinction between an actual crime, and activities of .... well.... lowlife. The man might be selfish and his behaviour selffish, but that does not constitute a crime.

You have point.

[Poser]

he was the first in the world to found quilty for this type of crime

.

[Lover]

Perhaps it is the video clip of his past dying lover that did him in.

[Sly1]

http://www.aidsmap.com/Conviction-for-reckless-HIV-transmission-relies-on-confession-and-results-in-one-year-in-jail/page/1432551/ (Scotland) The first conviction for HIV transmission in the UK for over a year, the case will be of concern to campaigners. Worryingly, the case appears to have strong similarities with early convictions for reckless HIV transmission

Police investigations
There have been cases in the UK (such as the Sarah Jane Porter case below) and abroad, where police have assumed that because HIV transmission can now be a criminal offence, it is acceptable to fully investigate any HIV positive person about whom they receive a complaint. In some cases, this will involve actively raiding the accused’s home for evidence of HIV positive status or demanding medical records from HIV clinics. Police have also been known to track down past partners to inform them of their risk, or even to persuade them to testify against the accused individual.
United States
As of the end of 2008, 36 states in America had prosecuted HIV positive individuals for criminal transmission or HIV exposure, with many having laws specifically mentioning HIV.30 Some states punish those convicted of offences such as prostitution or rape more severely if the person knows they have HIV. Spitting or emitting HIV-infected bodily fluids at another person while in prison is also an offence in some states. Failure to disclose one's HIV status to a partner is most often the only necessary basis for prosecution, rather than intent to infect someone else or actual transmission of HIV.31 At least nine HIV-positive individuals in the US have been sentenced for spitting with sentences ranging from 90 days to 25 years.32 A sample of the laws are below:33

Alabama – Engaging in activities likely to transmit an STD is a class C misdemeanour.
California – Engaging in uninformed, unprotected sexual activity (exception for consent) with the intent to infect the other person is a felony punishable by up to 8 years in prison.
Colorado – Committing or soliciting prostitution with knowledge of being HIV positive are class 5 and 6 felonies.
Florida – Unlawful for person with HIV, with knowledge both of their infection and risk of sexual transmission, to have sex without disclosure and consent having taken place.
Michigan – It is a felony to engage in sexual penetration, however slight and regardless of whether semen has been emitted, without informing the other of his/her HIV status.
Missouri – It is a class B felony to expose a person to HIV if defendant knowingly acted in a reckless manner without knowledge and consent through oral, anal or vaginal sex. If complainant becomes infected, the charge is a class A felony. The use of a condom is not a defence.
New York – The applicable part of the law is reckless endangerment in the first degree for engaging in ‘conduct which creates a grave risk of death to another person’.
Pennsylvania – The state Superior Court ruled in a 2006 case involving oral sex that HIV positive people who do not disclose their status to their sexual partners can be charged with reckless endangerment. It follows that any kind of unprotected sex without disclosure could be prosecuted.
Texas – HIV transmission cases have been brought to court under aggravated assault laws whereby a person “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly… uses or exhibits a deadly weapon as part of an assault”. Saliva of an HIV infected person is considered a deadly weapon

[letric]

Basically, do not have unprotected sex. Other than with your wife or significant partner.