Friday, June 6, 2008

Saliva again considered deadly weapon in Oak Lawn assault case

By Ben Briscoe of Dallas Voice

One of the nine aggravated crimes in the Cedar Springs area in the last two weeks didn’t involve a gun, knife or club.

Instead, the weapon was saliva.

According to police reports, on May 28, Paul Thibodeaux, 26, tried to steal a $4.79 Holmes Smokehouse Sausage from the Kroger at 4142 Cedar Springs Road. He tried to make off with the sausage by sticking it down his pants and walking out the front door.

But when a security guard tried to stop Thibodeaux, the suspect allegedly kicked and punched the guard before biting him twice, and drawing blood.

While the district attorney’s office says Thibodeaux would normally be charged with aggravated robbery, the charge was upped to aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon when Thibodeaux told police he may be HIV positive.

The reason for the increase, according to the DA’s office, is that there was a chance Thibodeaux could have infected the security guard with HIV.

Brett Camp

But Brett Camp, associate executive director for Health and Medical Services at the Resource Center of Dallas, says this isn’t so.

“There is no scientific evidence showing HIV can be transmitted through saliva, sweat or tears,” he said. “To say otherwise is to perpetuate stereotypes and instill fear about HIV.”

While Camp is not convinced, prosecutors were able to sway a Dallas County jury last month that HIV-positive saliva should be considered a deadly weapon. That resulted in Willie Campbell receiving a 35-year sentence for spitting into the mouth and eye of a Dallas police officer.

It wasn’t long before AIDS advocacy groups started protesting the decision, saying the sentence was excessive. But still this week, the new charges were filed against Thibodeaux.

Ken Upton, an attorney for LGBT advocacy group Lambda Legal, says the charges are just political.

“It’s all about stakes, trying to make the stakes high enough that the guy pleads and they don’t have to go trial,” Upton said. “It really is about working the system for the advantage of the prosecutors. And since these guys aren’t often the most likeable, it’s a pretty low sum game for them.”

But Upton is worried about the effect it will have.

“The more this happens, the more likely it will be that the media will cover it, and cops all around in small towns will start to think it is a good idea and begin using the charges themselves,” he said. “Pretty soon, it will be common practice.”

For now, Thibodeaux’s case is waiting to go to a grand jury. Kroger representatives declined to comment on the security guard’s recovery.

Pegasus News content partner - Dallas Voice
The community newspaper for gay & lesbian Dallas.

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Comments

Scott Doyle Verified

So what's going to be the sentence if a suspect farts on an officer?

With advances in treatment, it's not like you'd die within the year if you contracted HIV. Could still live quite a while. Are they just gonna start paying off juries to uphold the precedent?

4 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

jtmbls Anonymous

Oh so what. They should up the charges just on the ick factor alone. Grossness should be a deadly weapon - with or without the HIV.

Based on a few stories I have heard, I am just going to make a guess and say that the percentage of suspects who literally crap their pants is higher than you might think. I doubt most officers would even flinch at a little bad wind.

4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )