18Jul(THE POST STANDARD) – Syracuse, NY – The District Attorney’s Office will again try to prosecute a local man on felony reckless endangerment charges involving allegations he infected a consensual sexual partner with HIV. A county grand jury today filed a new indictment charging Terrance Williams, 23, with first-degree reckless endangerment and third-degree assault.
State Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti dismissed a similar reckless endangerment charge against Williams from an earlier indictment in a decision two weeks ago. The judge concluded there was insufficient evidence to support the allegation Williams posed a grave risk of death to the victim.
Brunetti ruled the prosecution would need to present expert testimony about the prognosis for a person who contacts HIV now. He cited the victim’s initial grand jury testimony that with today’s medication he expected to live anywhere from 30 to 90 years or better even with HIV.
Assistant District Attorney Geoffrey Ciereck today said the grand jury that filed the new indictment against Williams heard additional testimony from a witness about the nature of the HIV virus and its impact on a person who is exposed to it.
He declined further elaboration as it involved a grand jury presentation. But he said he believed the new testimony would be sufficient to address the issue addressed by Brunetti in the judge’s recent decision.
Williams is accused of recklessly creating a grave risk of death to the victim from July to October 2010 by engaging in consensual sex with the victim without revealing that he had been diagnosed as HIV positive in December 2009.
The indictment also contains a misdemeanor charge of third-degree assault, accusing Williams of recklessly causing physical injury to the victim. Brunetti had ruled there was sufficient evidence to support that charge in the initial indictment without the need for any additional expert testimony.
Defense lawyer August Nordone was unavailable for comment on today’s new indictment against his client.