Local News in Brief : Suspect’s AIDS Test Told
Dovie Beams de Villagran, who claims to be the ex-mistress of deposed Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos, has tested positive for the AIDS virus and suffers from some symptoms linked to the disease, her physician testified Thursday.
Villagran, on trial in federal court in Los Angeles for 42 counts of bank fraud in connection with loans she and her husband received to support their lavish Pasadena mansion, has been diagnosed with AIDS-Related Complex, thought to be related to the deadly disease, Dr. Timothy Bryant said.
Bryant said Villagran is thought to have been exposed to the AIDS virus from a blood transfusion during a 1980 operation for a perforated ulcer.
“The blood test is positive. She has AIDS,” Bryant said emphatically as Villagran, 55, wept quietly.
Most of Bryant’s testimony was presented outside the presence of the jury in an attempt by Villagran’s attorneys to show that she suffered mental impairment when she allegedly submitted false loan applications.
But U.S. District Judge Pamela Ann Rymer said she would not allow a mental impairment defense because defense lawyers had not given adequate advance notice to the prosecution.
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