Gay-rights group protests HIV-positive man's sentence

DALLAS — Type A gay-rights grouping is protesting a 35-year prison house sentence given to an HIV-positive man who was convicted of expectoration on a police force officer, and public wellness functionaries state the hazard of catching the acquired immune deficiency syndrome virus from spit is extremely low.

Prosecutors convinced a jury this hebdomad that the man's tongue constituted a deathly weapon, making the long prison house term appropriate.

Willie Joseph Campbell tongue into the oculus and unfastened oral cavity of a Dallas police force military military officer while he was being arrested for public poisoning in 2006, the officer testified.

Campbell, 42, had been in prison house twice before, making him a habitual wrongdoer topic to a sentence of at least 25 years.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states no 1 have ever contracted the acquired immune deficiency syndrome virus from spit.

The Dallas County Health Department issued a statement Friday that said human immunodeficiency virus is usually distribute by sexual contact or sharing acerate leaves with an contaminated individual or through a blood transfusion of corrupt blood.

The notice said that federal populace wellness functionaries see "the hazard of human immunodeficiency virus transmittal from such as fluids as spit and crying to be extremely low."

Bebe Anderson, the human immunodeficiency virus undertakings manager at Lambda Legal, a gay-rights group, said the finding of fact could make incorrect feelings about how human immunodeficiency virus is transmitted.

"It's been 25 old age since the virus was identified, but there are still tons of fears," he told The Dallas Morning News for Saturday's editions. "We are still facing people losing their occupations and fighting for their children because of fearfulnesses that are unfounded."

Campbell was convicted of harassing a public retainer for expectoration on police force military officer Dan Waller. The military officer have not tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The Dallas County public prosecutor who handled the trial, Jenni Morse, said any hazard is sufficient to happen that Campbell's tongue could be considered a deathly weapon.

"No substance how minuscule, there is some risk," she said. "That agency there is the possibility of causing serious carnal hurt or death," the legal definition of a deathly weapon.

District Lawyer Craig Watkins said "it was clear that the suspect intended to do serious carnal injury."

While in prison house awaiting trial in the expectoration case, Joseph Campbell spot two inmates and attacked other officers.

Because of the deadly-weapon finding, Joseph Campbell will have got to function half his sentence before becoming eligible for parole. He was sentenced Wednesday.