Airman Tries to Have Conviction For Passing HIV to Partner Overturned

This appeal court case depending on how it goes may end up helping this Special Forces Colonel who is being charged for getting a female partner infected with HIV:

A Kansas airman accused of aggravated assault for exposing multiple sex partners to HIV at swinger parties in Wichita will have his appeal heard this week before the nation’s highest military court.

The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces will on Tuesday take up the case against David Gutierrez, an appeal the defense contends could upend similar prosecutions in the U.S. military.

“This case will have the potential of decriminalizing sexual contact with someone with HIV,” defense attorney Kevin McDermott said.

Air Force prosecutors have declined comment.

Gutierrez was a sergeant at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita in 2011 when he was stripped of his rank and sentenced to eight years behind bars.

In addition to aggravated assault, Gutierrez also was found guilty of violating an order to notify partners about his HIV status and to use condoms. He was also convicted of indecent acts and adultery. He has not been accused of actually infecting anyone with HIV.

In his appeal, Gutierrez has challenged whether the risk to his sexual partners was high enough to constitute aggravated assault, arguing that laws covering exposure to the disease are outdated since the statistical probability of heterosexual transmission is low and medical advances have made the disease treatable.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but I do not see how giving someone HIV should not be considered a crime of some kind regardless of how treatable it is now a days.  It is something that at least permanently negatively alters the life of anyone who catches it and can lead to deadly consequences.  Also of interest with this story is that Gutierrez is also claiming he is not guilty of adultery since his wife participated in the swinger parties.  It will be interesting to see how this case turns out and its ramifications on the UCMJ.