Possession of A Dangerous Weapon

HIV-INFECTED BLOOD HAS BECOME PERHAPS THE most difficult of deadly weapons to control. Those who wield it often strike without warning or remorse. Parolee Terry Boatwright, facing accusations that he had raped and also injected his ex-girlfriend with his own tainted blood because he wanted her to know what it was like to live with HIV, shot himself to death during a standoff with Escambia County (Florida) sheriffs on Nov. 28. Two days later, a Portland, Oregon, judge sentenced Alberto Gonzalez to 113 months in prison for having unprotected sex with a 17-year-old girl last year and giving her marijuana. Gonzalez knew he had the AIDS virus since 1988.

More than 25 states have laws on the books making it a misdemeanor or felony for an HIV-positive person to spread the virus through methods ranging from sexual contact to the splattering of blood. In Louisiana the malicious transmission of the AIDS virus carries a maximum punishment of $5,000 and 10 years in prison -- last month, for the first time, a man was prosecuted and convicted under the law. Lawrence Gostin, head of the U.S. AIDS Litigation Project, recommends education and counseling for HIV-infected people to convince them that they have responsibility to tell others about their condition: "I don't believe for a minute that harsh criminal punishment is making people change their behavior."