San Francisco Chronicle - December 10, 2003
Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer

The ruling by Superior Court Judge Kay Tsenin to throw out a grand jury's indictment in the case marked the first-ever judicial review of a 1998 state law against knowingly and deliberately infecting partners.

Prosecutors alleged that Ronald Gene Hill, 46, of Grass Valley (Nevada County) engaged in a pattern of soliciting sex with men on the Internet and falsely telling them he wasn't infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.

At least two men infected with HIV told the grand jury that they had had sex with Hill and that he had repeatedly told them he didn't have the virus. Prosecutors say that Hill took advantage of his position as a health commissioner to stave off questions about his HIV status.

But Hill's attorney, Peter Fitzpatrick, argued in court papers and before Tsenin that there was not enough evidence to show his client had intended to infect anyone.

He said that the contacts between Hill and the two alleged victims, Thomas Lister and Christopher M., were "normal relationships." Fitzpatrick argued that even if Hill had lied about his HIV status, such deception would not meet the standard of illegal acts under the law, which requires the specific intent to infect someone.

"That does not rise to the level of specific intent," Fitzpatrick said.

He also argued that the prosecutors had tainted the grand jury by wrongly emphasizing that Hill had refused to testify before the body. Prosecutor Greg Barge said he was fulfilling the legal burden of telling the grand jury to consider Hill's side of the story.

In the end, Tsenin said prosecutors just could not meet the legal burden in the face of a "very marginal amount" of evidence against Hill.

Prosecutors lamented that the state Legislature set the bar high on the law so that someone could not be prosecuted simply for withholding his or her HIV status from a partner.

Barge said he did not know whether the case would be refiled or whether Tsenin's ruling would be appealed.

"I believe that especially when you have two separate victims, with identical Internet solicitation and identical conduct, I do believe he intended to infect," Barge said. "I believe the jury should have been allowed to consider the question."

Fitzpatrick said he felt the ruling was fair.

"My client is dying of AIDS," he said. "He is very happy not to be a criminal defendant at this stage in his life."

Lister said Tuesday that he believed the fight was worth it.

"We've pursued it to the limit," he said. "I don't see it as a victory for the defense or a defeat for the D.A.'s office but as an opportunity to go the Legislature in California to get this law changed. It's a law that is not working -- and we need to change that."

Hill, a onetime registered nurse, former florist and funeral home director, was appointed to the city Health Commission by Mayor Willie Brown in 1997. He resigned in 2000.

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