State v. Ingram, 2012 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 887 (2012)

This is a 2012 decision by the Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee reversing the defendant's conviction of criminal exposure to HIV and imposing one of attempt to expose one to HIV.

 

In 2009, a jury convicted Ronnie Ingram of aggravated burglary, criminal exposure to HIV, evading arrest, and resisting arrest. During his arrest, Ingram allegedly spat in the face of a police officer and made threatening statements regarding his HIV status. The officer did not test positive for HIV. Ingram was sentenced to 32 years, 11 months, and 29 days in prison.

 

On appeal, Ingram challenged only the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction of criminal exposure to HIV. He alleged that the State failed to establish that spitting saliva into the officer's face posed a significant risk of transmission. The court found that in order to establish this, the State must provide expert medical testimony on whether the defendant's actions posed a significant risk of HIV transmission, since a layperson does not have the necessary medical knowledge to make this determination.  It found that the State failed to establish this element of the offense, and modified Ingram's conviction of criminal exposure to HIV to attempt to expose one to HIV. Ingram's statement that he was infected and hoped the police dog present at his arrest contracted HIV from biting him showed he intended to expose the officer to HIV.