HIV+ man in Texas gets 35 years for spitting at an officer

[redhotmuslbear]

The verdict, much less the judge's allowing the case to proceed despite the lack of scientific evidence, is chilling.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080515/ap_on_re_us/hiv_positive_suspect

"DALLAS - An HIV-positive man convicted of spitting into the eye and mouth of a Dallas police officer has been sentenced to 35 years in prison.  Because a jury found that Willie Campbell used his saliva as a deadly weapon, the 42-year-old will have to serve half his sentence before becoming eligible for parole. He was sentenced Wednesday.  Campbell was being arrested in May 2006 for public intoxication when he began resisting and kicking inside the patrol car, Dallas police office Dan Waller testified.  Campbell was convicted of harassment of a public servant."

[Ann]

FFS! That's like poking someone with a feather, then being charged with using a deadly weapon. It beggars belief. And we wonder why the stigma continues?

The judge should be the one locked up.

[NewYorkKat]

It goes to show you how IGNORANT the system and its people who work for it are!

[komnaes]

I also venture to guess that Willie is probably black too...

[redhotmuslbear]

I also venture to guess that Willie is probably black too...

Why is Campbell's ancestry sufficiently relevant to warrant any question of it?  From the descriptions in other media accounts regarding his past confrontations with police and his demeanor in the court room, I have a greater concern that he is mentally ill and was afforded an "insanity plea" because he also has HIV.  If he was yellow, red, purple, or green, the same would apply.

Namaste,
David

[Dachshund]

Why is Campbell's ancestry sufficiently relevant to warrant any question of it?  From the descriptions in other media accounts regarding his past confrontations with police and his demeanor in the court room, I have a greater concern that he is mentally ill and was afforded an "insanity plea" because he also has HIV.  If he was yellow, red, purple, or green, the same would apply.

Namaste,
David

Yeah right. Every statistic and study shows that race plays a huge role in our judicial system. Blacks regularly receive much harsher sentences than whites and the question will always remain relevant. If you think a white man with money would have received the same sentence, think again. The only thing worse in the jury's mind would have been if he was a fag. Our prison system is filled with Willie's.

[emeraldize]

I was one of a host of follks online during one of two nationally hosted conference calls this past week. It was a well-coordinated, legally led, one-hour forum. It initiated the process of accessing and lining up facts on this case; determining who is best to write what and deliver what to the media about what is, at a minimum, a terrible chunk of misinformation about transmission of HIV and at a maximum leads to such inappropriate sentencing, fear and stigmatization; the related wish lists of numerous agencies who've suggested excellent ways to use this incident, this case, as a catalyst for educational opportunities and change within the judicial and legislative systems.

I am looking forward to the many ways in which this man's case is going to cause a long overdue chain reaction of change. And, we need it to start happening now if we ever hope to see the Travel ban lifted and Universal access achieved by 2010.

[goatwriter]

 Yes, lets hope this case can be used as a catalyst. But the sad thing is that it should never have got to this. I think we need to take back all the ground we lost. One way to start would be intelligent evaluation of risk, not masked by emotion and anecdote.
 It's time to be brave and not talk about hypothetical, or small risks, ( like risk through oral sex, or whilst using a condom) and blow these up into actual, potential risks.
 Lets look at the risk of a driver hitting a pedestrian. Even sober, with a license and insurance, I think the risk of someone driving a car and causing the death of another person is greater than the risk of an hiv positive person with undetectable viral load and using a condom , of causing harm to the person they have sex with. Yet we don't prosecute car drivers each time they take a vehicle on the road. In the same way we shouldn't prosecute hiv positive people for not disclosing to sexual partners, if they take the necessary precautions.
 The risk is too low to be worth counting. To say that it could happen or that it happened once of twice is an emotional, anecdotal reasoning that should not be a base for decision making.
 Alas, this is not a problem confined to the hiv world, but widespread in human nature.