Aziga found guilty of first-degree murder

[Tropicana]

This is a landmark case, possibly the first conviction of its kind in the world.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-weight: bold">HIV man guilty of murder

First in Canada. Two partners died of AIDS-related cancers</span>
By JORDANA HUBER, Canwest News Service

April 5, 2009

<span style="font-weight: bold">An HIV-positive man has become the first person in Canada to be convicted of murder for spreading the virus that causes AIDS.

A jury of nine men and three women deliberated for 2 1/2 days before finding Johnson Aziga of Hamilton guilty yesterday on two counts of first-degree murder and 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault.</span>

Aziga, 52, was found guilty of attempted aggravated sexual assault in the case of a former partner.

&quot;It's certainly precedent setting here in Canada because we now have a conviction for first-degree murder involving HIV transmission,&quot; crown attorney Karen Shea said after the verdict came down.</div></div>
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
<span style="font-weight: bold">The Crown said Aziga endangered the lives of 11 women by having unprotected sex with them and failing to disclose he had HIV.

Seven of the women tested positive for HIV and two died of AIDS-related cancers, the jury heard. The four other women tested negative.

Prosecutors painted Aziga as a callous and arrogant man who &quot;outright lied&quot; to women with whom he had sex, and in some cases convinced his partners condoms were not necessary.</span></div></div>
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Aziga's lawyers argued he did not have the &quot;mental wherewithal&quot; to deliberately endanger his former lovers, citing a brain disorder, heavy drinking and post-traumatic stress.

&quot;If you have a brain disorder, then you do things that people who do not have that kind of condition do,&quot; defence lawyer Davies Bagambiire said after the verdict. &quot;Did it deprive him of the capacity to form the intent to commit murder? Obviously, the jury found otherwise.&quot;

A native of Uganda and former research analyst at the Ministry of the Attorney General in Ontario, Aziga was diagnosed with HIV in 1996. </div></div> <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

<span style="font-weight: bold">He was counselled not to have unprotected sex and to tell partners of his health status, jurors heard during testimony.

Despite several warnings and being served with an order under the Health Protection and Promotion Act to wear condoms and inform his partners, Aziga continued to have unprotected sex, jurors heard.</span></div></div>
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
To find Aziga guilty of aggravated sexual assault, the jury had to find the women did not have HIV before they had sex with Aziga and would not have agreed to sex had they known he carried the virus that causes AIDS. </div></div>

If it was consensual success, how does it become sexual assault? It it because it wasn't INFORMED consent?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
To return with a guilty verdict on the two first-degree murder charges, jurors had to conclusively find Aziga infected his two former partners and that their deaths stemmed from an aggravated sexual assault.

The Crown maintained two women, who can only be identified as H.C. and S.B., were essentially injected with a &quot;slow-acting poison&quot; that destroyed their immune systems and, because they didn't know Aziga had HIV, they were unable to seek effective treatment, leading to their cancers and to their deaths. </div></div>
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
<span style="font-weight: bold">Aziga is the first person in Canada - <span style="font-size: 14pt">possibly the world </span>- to be found guilty of murder for lethally infecting a partner with HIV, legal observers said.

He has been in custody since his arrest in 2003 and his trial was rescheduled four times as he fired his legal aid-funded defence teams.</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">A murder conviction carries a life sentence with no parole eligibility for 25 years. Aziga will be sentenced May 7.</span>

</div></div>

[Tropicana]

Re: Aziga found guilty of first-degree murder




<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-weight: bold">Aziga found guilty of first-degree murder</span>



Updated: Sat Apr. 04 2009 8:07:32 PM

CTV.ca News

<span style="font-weight: bold">An HIV-positive Ontario man has been convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of two women who died from AIDS-related illnesses.

In a precedent-setting case, Johnson Aziga, a 52-year-old from Hamilton, was also found guilty on 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of attempted aggravated sexual assault.

A sentencing hearing is expected to take place on May 7.

During the trial, which began in October of last year, prosecutors said that Aziga had unprotected sex with former female co-workers and women he met at bars.

Aziga had been aware he was carrying HIV since 1996 and public health officials had ordered him to disclose his illness to any potential sexual partners.</span> </div></div> <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
During the trial, the jury of three women and nine men had to decide if the illnesses and deaths could be directly linked to Aziga, a Ugandan immigrant who worked for the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

<span style="font-weight: bold">The Crown said that seven women were infected with HIV and that two of them died after Aziga, in police custody since 2003, neglected to tell them about his illness.</span>
Aziga met both of the deceased women while working for the Ontario government, the court heard.

Another four women were also exposed to the virus, but later tested negative for HIV, prosecutors told the court. </div></div> <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

The defence, meanwhile, argued that Aziga's brain disorder and personal problems would not have enabled him to purposely hurt the women.

The jury issued their decision on Saturday afternoon after three days of deliberation.

<span style="font-weight: bold">During the trial, the court watched a videotaped statement from one of Aziga's former lovers who was only weeks away from her death.</span>

During the interview, which was taped by police, the woman said Aziga never disclosed his illness during their relationship in the summer of 2000.

&quot;No, he never did. Not at any time,&quot; said the woman, who was only identified as S.B.

<span style="font-weight: bold">The woman clearly stated that she would have refused sex with Aziga had she known he was carrying HIV.

Three weeks after the tape was made, S.B. died from AIDS-related cancers.</span>

</div></div>

Source

[Tropicana]

Re: Aziga found guilty of first-degree murder

I beat you to it Milo.