Published June, 2014
State of Ohio v. Henry Couturier, 2000 Ohio App. Lexis 2677 (Ohio Ct. App. June 22, 2000)
This Court of Appeals of Ohio, Tenth Appellate District judgment vacates an HIV positive defendant’s felonious assault conviction. The charge stemmed from the defendant having unprotected sex with a female partner, who later tested positive for HIV. The appeals court considered whether the de-fendant “knowingly” used HIV “as a weapon” within the meaning of Ohio’s felonious assault statute. The court found that there was no evidence that the defendant had tried to use HIV to cause anyone harm; rather, he was simply indifferent to the possible consequences to his partner. For this reason, the felonious assault conviction could not be sustained.
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