Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 3, 1993 TAG: 9307030122
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BONNIE V. WINSTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
AIDS activists and civil liberties lawyers criticized Petersburg Commonwealth's Attorney Cassandra S. Burns for bringing the charges.
But Burns insisted Friday that aggressive steps were warranted because of the continued threat to public safety the three presented.
Burns described herself as "a staunch AIDS advocate" and said she's more interested in stopping the defendants from spreading the disease than in punishing them. "I couldn't find a way to stop them other than bringing charges," she said.
One of the women, Rita Conway, was being held without bond Friday in the Petersburg Jail. She had been indicted on five charges of attempted murder.
The name of the other woman was unavailable because her indictment on a single charge of attempted murder was ordered sealed by the court. She had not been arrested by late Friday.
The man, identified in warrants as Johnny Webb of Petersburg, had not been arrested either. He is wanted on seven charges of attempted murder for allegedly having unprotected sex with two 15-year-old girls and on one charge of perjury.
Burns said she fears that the two may have disappeared in the wake of media reports that began Thursday about the case.
Burns said Webb's case is not related to those of the two women. In all cases, however, the sex was consensual, she said.
Burns did not say how Petersburg authorities learned about Webb's alleged involvement with the girls, or why his AIDS test results were sought by authorities.
"People in the community who were concerned" about the two prostitutes continuing to have unprotected sex went to detectives with their fears, Burns said. After a two-month investigation, Burns obtained a court order to acquire their AIDS test results, as well as those of Webb.
"What made this even more egregious is that all of them had known for some time - at least six months - that they had tested positive for AIDS," Burns said. "None of these involved a recent diagnosis."
Although AIDS test results are supposed to be confidential, Virginia law requires the name of anyone testing positive for the HIV antibody to be reported to the state Health Department.
Also under state law, test results can be turned over to anyone who has a court order to obtain the information. Nothing in the law, however, spells out under what circumstances the court order should be granted.
"We had to assure the judge this was not a fishing expedition," Burns said. "We went to the judge once we had serious information."
Officials in the attorney general's office, the state Health Department and several AIDS support agencies said such criminal charges have never been lodged in Virginia.
Burns' actions drew sharp criticism from AIDS activists and civil liberties lawyers.
Kent Willis, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, accused Burns of "stepping outside the bounds" of her legal authority.
"This sends a dangerous message out to the public about police power to invade privacy," Willis said.
"This is not the way to prevent the spread of AIDS," he continued. "Educational programs and medical advances prevent communicable diseases - not prosecution."
Willis said the 1993 General Assembly killed a bill, sponsored by Del. Phillip Hamilton, R-Newport News, making it a felony for a prostitute, knowingly infected with HIV, to have unprotected sex.
Mala Freeman, director of education for the Tidewater AIDS Crisis Task Force in Norfolk, charged Burns with "trying to make a public example" of people who sell sex.
"I think it's criminal for someone who knows they have the virus to engage in unprotected sex," Freeman said. "But I'm not saying prosecuting people is the answer."
The focus belongs on education and making people aware - even those in monogamous relationships - that they share the responsibility for protecting themselves during sex, Freeman said.
"I can understand that argument," Burns responded Friday. "But we're not talking about something that can be cured with penicillin.
"Everybody has a responsibility for themselves, but we have drug addicts who are still doing drugs even though they know about the dangers to themselves and others. Just like `Just Say No' wasn't enough with drugs, education isn't enough with AIDS. Something more aggressive needed to be done, and I did it."
by CNB