SELL YOUR SOUL
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1st Person Prosecuted for Transmission of HIV
In a grim twist of irony a former San Francisco health commissioner was the first person to be criminally prosecuted for the transmission of HIV. According to an article from CNN.com former health commissioner of San Francisco, Ronald Gene Hill is the first person to be arrested under the law that was passed in 1998. The law makes it a crime to "knowingly and intentionally expose another person to the virus that causes AIDS." Hill was arrested after his indictment by a grand jury. Even though the crime took place in 2000 Hill is first being prosecuted now due to delay's caused by a civil trial. In January of 2001 Thomas Lister, Hill's former lover, brought a civil suit against Hill. No result was yielded until March of 2002 when a judge awarded Lister $5 million dollars in damages; half for damages and half for punitive damages. After the decision Hill disappeared and Lister has received no money to date. According to Lister's attorney in his civil action prosecutor's originally did not want to prosecute such a controversial case but when Hill was found liable in a civil trial there was pressure for criminal prosecution...