Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 7, 1993 TAG: 9301070128
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: The Associated Press
DATELINE: KALAMAZOO, MICH. LENGTH: Short
JUDGE ORDERS JOHNSON NAMED IN AIDS SUIT
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered that Magic Johnson be officially listed as the defendant in a lawsuit filed by a woman who claims he gave her the virus that causes AIDS.Until now, Johnson was listed as Richard Roe in the lawsuit, although he publicly acknowledged he was the defendant and that he had a one-time sexual encounter with the woman in June 1990.
The woman's name will remain shielded by the court to protect her privacy. The divorced mother, listed only as Jane Doe, is suing for $2 million.
The basketball star "waived his right to remain nameless" when he acknowledged in television interviews in November that he was the defendant in the suit, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Enslen said. Enslen said Johnson's role as a public figure and his choice to become a "spokesperson for those who have the AIDS virus" also weighed in his decision.
Johnson's attorneys opposed the motion to rename the lawsuit, alleging the woman wants Johnson officially named to put him in a negative light before the public. Attorney Howard Weitzman said Johnson didn't want his name "memorialized" in a case that "very well could be precedent-setting."
Enslen noted, however, that his clerk had asked the woman's attorney, Theodore Swift, to make the motion to clear up confusion about the case name because of the wide media interest.
According to the suit, Johnson either knew he was infected or should have told the woman he was at high risk for having the virus because of his active sex life. Johnson says he did not have the virus or at least did not know he had the virus at the time.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.