AIDS Activists Plead No Contest to Misdemeanors
Two AIDS activists in San Francisco pleaded no contest this week to misdemeanor counts of making threatening or annoying phone calls to public health officials and newspaper reporters in late 2001.
Visiting Superior Court Judge Raymond Arata sentenced Michael Petrelis and David Pasquarelli to three years' probation as well as mandatory mental health counseling. Restraining orders remain in place that bar the pair from contacting or going near the alleged victims.
Petrelis and Pasquarelli, both of whom have AIDS, were arrested in November 2001 on dozens of felony and misdemeanor charges and spent 72 days in jail before being released on bail. Among other things, they said they were protesting AIDS and syphilis prevention campaigns that they believe stigmatized gay sex and accused a top public health official of wanting to quarantine gay men.
Petrelis pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors; Pasquarelli to three.
Petrelis said he agreed to the pleas because his health deteriorated -- he developed skin infections and pneumonia -- in jail and as he prepared his defense. He now concedes that it was "inappropriate" to make the phone calls in the middle of the night.
"I like living a lot," Petrelis said in an interview. "I want to keep myself healthy and alive, and going through a [preliminary hearing] or eventual trial, I think, could have been deadly."
Pasquarelli said he too had suffered serious illnesses since his arrest and felt it was time to end the legal proceedings.
"The sad part," he said, "is that they really put us through the wringer for two years, in and out of the hospital, in and out of court. I thought it was really cruel, and I had enough."
Assistant Dist. Atty. Michon Martin said prosecutors decided to settle the case because the defendants agreed to abide by the restraining orders and accept some responsibility for their actions. Also, she said, Pasquarelli's declining health played a role.
"As a human being, I'm thinking we need to resolve this for everybody," Martin said. "Even if we went to trial, this is not the type of case that we would send them to state prison on."
Some of those on the receiving end of the phone calls said they were unaware of the plea deal and uncertain what to make of it.
"Violence and threats of violence are not activism," said Jeff Sheehy, a press officer for UC San Francisco's AIDS Research Institute, who was among those getting the unwanted calls. "Their goal was not to add to the debate about HIV and AIDS but to shut down the debate."
