Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press - Thursday, December 12, 1996 03:36:00 PM.
Dan Seufert, Associated Press Writer
Prosecutors will try to prove that 38-year-old Rexford Kidd of Amherst was trying to spread the disease.
"We felt that he had a contagious disease, and that by him spitting at us, that he was attempting to infect us," said Amherst detective Ronald Young.
Some AIDS experts say the charge is bogus.
"Saliva is not a dangerous weapon," said Dr. Richard Marlink, executive director of the Harvard AIDS Institute. "Spitting in someone's face is repugnant, but it's not using a deadly weapon."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there has never been a reported case of HIV spread through saliva. And legal experts said no one in the country has ever been convicted of such a charge.
"A lot of people have been charged, but it's never been proved because it can't be proved," said Jon Davidson, a lawyer representing the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund of Los Angeles.
Kidd, who faces 20 years in prison if convicted, is due in court Monday for a pretrial hearing.
Kidd, who contracted the AIDS virus about 10 years ago through intravenous drug use, recently received treatment for drug addiction and had begun his recovery, said his parents, Russell and Virginia Kidd.
On Nov. 26, Kidd tried to buy liquor at a package store, and threatened package store employees who refused to sell to him, police said. When police arrived, Kidd said he had AIDS and spat at two officers.
Police would not say whether the officers were tested for the virus.
AIDS experts say it is very difficult to find the AIDS virus in saliva. It is usually transmitted through blood, semen or contaminated needles.
Young said police have scientific evidence to the contrary, but declined to elaborate. "I would like to see their medical evidence," he said. "We'll see it in court."
Similar cases have been tried in other states. In Ohio in 1991, an AIDS-infected man was acquitted of attempted murder charges -- but convicted of assault -- for spitting at jail officers.
In Indiana, a judge's decision that an HIV-infected prostitute cannot be sentenced for assault by bodily waste for spitting on police has been appealed.
And in Florida, an HIV-infected prostitute is serving a 10-year sentence for aggravated battery, robbery and burglary of a vehicle for biting an elderly man during a robbery.
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