17 May (Fort Bragg, NC) – After more than 200 days in custody, a US Army sergeant was released this week after a federal court acquitted him of four HIV-related criminal against him.
If convicted, Sergeant TD faced 37 years in federal prison.
Army investigators arrested Sgt. TD in 2011 after a former girlfriend accused him of assault and throwing a plastic bottle during an argument. The victim and three other women later learned that he was diagnosed as “HIV-positive” in 2010.
The evidence against Sgt. TD was overwhelming. Faced with repeated positive ELISA, Western Blot and viral load tests, a doctor’s alleged diagnosis and the soldier’s signed confession, his defense attorneys offered to plead guilty in exchange of a reduced sentence.
Prosecutors refused.
With no other defense available, Sgt. TD’s military defense attorneys asked OMSJ to join the case last March. With only weeks to prepare, OMSJ’s team determined that Sgt. TD had tested “HIV positive” during a pre-deployment screening after receiving a dozen or more inoculations that are known to produce false positive test results. A closer examination found no evidence that any military or civilian HIV clinician had ever competently diagnosed the healthy asymptomatic man as infected with HIV.
Last Monday, prosecutors called a top infectious disease expert from Bethesda who claimed that TD was undoubtedly infected with HIV and that Western Blot was the “gold standard” for HIV testing. When cross-examined, the “expert” insisted that there was no need to consider the dozens of factors that are known to cause false positive results.
OMSJ’s team of medical and biotech experts explained why doctors should not rely on HIV tests that the FDA and manufacturers warn are too unreliable, and were never intended or approved to be used, to diagnose HIV.
Despite the overwhelming odds, the orders violations were dismissed and Sgt. TD was acquitted of all HIV-related charges. After 240 days in pretrial custody, he was immediately released.
Source: http://www.omsj.org/issues/ustd