Supreme Court orders new trial for man with AIDS virus

The Supreme Court of Canada says people with HIV have a fundamental responsibility to inform their sexual partners. In a decision Thursday, the court ordered a new trial in the case of Henry Cuerrier.

The British Columbia man knew he had the virus, but did not tell his two lovers.

Cuerrier was acquitted in 1995 of aggravated assault against the two women. He admitted he did not tell them he had the AIDS virus.

The original trial judge ruled that although Cuerrier endangered the lives of his partners, assault had not occurred because the two women had consented to sex.

As well, Cuerrier did not pass the virus to either woman and the court ruled they did not suffer injury.

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that he obtained consent by fraud, so Cuerrier must face a new trial.

Cuerrier was living in Squamish, B.C. in August 1992 when a public health nurse warned him to wear condoms and tell his sex partners that he had tested positive for virus that causes AIDS.

"If I tell one person in this little town, I'll never have a sex life again. I can't do that," was his reaction.

Within weeks, Cuerrier met a woman with whom he had unprotected sex more than 100 times during the next 20 months. During the relationship, he told his partner he had tested negative for the AIDS virus.

He did not reveal his true status even after the Squamish medical health officer wrote Cuerrier in June 1994, ordering him to disclose his condition and wear quality condoms.

Cuerrier immediately began to have unsafe sex with another women. But the relationship lasted less than one month when she found out he was HIV positive.