WICHITA — A military judge has found Tech. Sgt. David Gutierrez guilty on seven counts of aggravated assault, eight counts of adultery, one count of disobeying orders and one count of indecent acts on multiple occasions.
The charges against Gutierrez stem from having sex with several partners without divulging his HIV-positive status.
The judge, Lt. Col. William Muldoon, found him not guilty of one count of aggravated assault involving a man who refuted that he performed oral sex on Gutierrez.
Sentencing is expected to begin shortly.
During closing arguments earlier today, prosecutors urged the judge not to consider how likely it was for the people with whom Tech Sgt. David Gutierrez had protected and unprotected sex to get the virus that causes AIDS. Rather, the judge should consider "how likely they are to die from it if they get it," Capt. Brian Mason said.
Gutierrez, Mason said, "knew that he was putting these people in harm."
"The magnitude of the harm is death," Mason said. "That's as serious as it gets."
Maj. James Dorman, one of Gutierrez's lawyers, said HIV is "not the death sentence" it used to be.
"These days the degree of harm is not nearly what it used to be," he said.
Read more of this story at Kansas.com
.jpg)
Comments