Law on HIV Infection Little Used

Testifying before a grand jury here last week, the 38-year-old former brokerage manager described his sense of outrage and betrayal at learning that Hill, a nurse, lied about his HIV status before infecting Lister with the disease in 2000.

"I trusted him when he said he didn't have HIV," Lister said of his former partner in an interview. "If you can't trust a nurse and city heath commissioner, who can you trust?"

Lister wants his ex-lover behind bars. But for the grand jury, which met in secret for a second and last time Tuesday to consider the matter, handing up an indictment is complicated.

If charged, Hill would join only a handful of people statewide pursued under a controversial 5-year-old law that prosecutors criticize as so narrow it hampers efforts to punish those who transmit HIV through sexual activity.

California differs from some two dozen other states with similar laws because it includes a caveat that requires authorities to prove defendants acted "with the specific intent" to infect their sex partners with HIV. Three other states have laws that match California's requirement.

The California law has brought just one conviction, in a 2002 Hermosa Beach case in which a man who knew he was HIV-infected exposed two girlfriends to the deadly disease over several years. The 41-year-old man was sentenced to eight years in prison after accepting a plea bargain agreement.

In California's decades-long battle against AIDS transmission, the specific-intent clause has caused an ongoing skirmish between HIV activists and law enforcement. Advocates say the law's language protects HIV sufferers from unfounded accusations, while officials say it limits their ability to prosecute these cases.

"If this law is designed to protect against bad behavior, it's not doing its job," said Elliot Beckelman, an assistant district attorney in San Francisco who has worked on the Hill case. "We have an incredibly large gay population in this city. But we haven't been able to use this law in our arsenal to protect the public safety."

For years, Lister has been talking about the disease his ex-lover kept secret from him. He has addressed the San Francisco health commission on the case and last year he won a $5-million civil default judgment against Hill, now 45, who disappeared after being confronted by Lister about his HIV status.