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Man Convicted of Using HIV as a Threat Loses Appeal
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The Associated Press, 11/21/03 HIV Update Volume 4, Number 52 11/29/03
A man sent to prison after he was convicted of telling a county probation officer he had infected the man with the AIDS virus lost his appeal to state Superior Court. A York County jury in October 2002 convicted Maurice Walker of Springettsbury Township of making terroristic threats. He was sentenced to two to five years in state prison.
According to court documents, as probation officers escorted Walker into county prison, he scratched the hand of one officer and said, "I have open cuts on my hands. Life is short. I am taking you with me."
Walker's appeal said he made the remark on the spur of the moment and prosecutors had not proven that he intended to terrorize the officer.Superior Court Judge Richard B. Klein, writing for the three-judge panel, said jurors could have properly inferred that Walker was threatening to kill the probation officer. He was repeatedly tested for hepatitis and HIV over the next six months but all of the tests came back negative.
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