Judge Slashes Award in Hudson AIDS Case

Ruling that jurors allowed their “passion” against Rock Hudson’s “outrageous and reprehensible” conduct to color their thinking, a judge Friday slashed to $5.5 million a landmark judgment recently awarded to the late actor’s former lover.

The attorney for Marc Christian called the decision to cut the jury’s award of $21.75 million “disappointing.” But Christian, who jurors decided suffered extreme emotional stress after learning that Hudson had hidden the fact that he had AIDS, will accept the award, according to attorney Harold Rhoden.

Defense attorneys, meanwhile, said that despite the reduction, they will appeal.

In his ruling, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Bruce R. Geernaert, who presided over the trial that ended in February, had harsh words for the conduct of the Hollywood star, who died from AIDS in 1985.

“It is . . . clear,” the judge wrote, “that the emotional distress at issue here is the fear of contracting AIDS and, therefore, the fear of an agonizing death is very substantial whether measured in quantity or quality.”

“On the other hand,” Geernaert continued in his 30-page ruling, “however serious (Christian’s) emotional distress might be when he first learned of Hudson’s AIDS, such emotional distress would become somewhat less over time.”

Moreover, Geernaert wrote, Christian, 35, has showed no sign that his distress has been “physically debilitating” or that he suffered any monetary loss.

Christian, who has shown no sign of having contracted AIDS, testified during the five-week trial that Hudson never told him he had contracted acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Thus, he testified in sometimes lurid detail, he unwittingly continued to have sex with the star for eight months after Hudson was diagnosed with AIDS. The two men met at a party in 1983 and lived together for a while in Hudson’s Beverly Hills estate before Hudson’s death in 1985 at age 58.

The former bartender and musicologist was awarded $14.5 million in compensatory damages by a jury that decided that Hudson had conspired with his personal secretary, Mark Miller, to conceal his illness from Christian.

Jurors awarded an additional $7.25 million in punitive damages against Miller to punish him for his “despicable conduct” in helping Hudson to hide the fatal disease.

After the trial, defense attorneys asked Geernaert to either overturn the results of the trial or dramatically slash the size of the judgment. In their effort to discredit Christian, lawyers for Hudson’s estate introduced a sworn statement from a Laguna Niguel physical trainer who claimed to have had sex with Christian after Hudson’s death.

Judge Sees No Effect

Geernaert, however, ruled the new evidence would not have affected the outcome of the trial.

The judge reduced the compensatory damages to $5 million and the punitive damages to $500,000.

The decision to grant Christian a smaller portion of Hudson’s estate was no surprise. At a court hearing earlier this month, Geernaert said he planned to cut back the punitive damages against Miller to $3 million or less.

But Rhoden, who had recently acknowledged that the initial jury award was “excessive,” said late Friday that the judge “emasculated the jury’s verdict.

“It’s a drastic cut,” he said. “I think the jurors are going to be disappointed.”

‘Will Have to Consent’

Nonetheless, Rhoden said, Christian “cannot afford a new trial and will have to consent.”

Robert Parker Mills, an attorney for Hudson’s estate, also expressed disappointment at Geernaert’s action.

“Based on everything that’s gone forward with the case so far, it’s about what I expected,” Mills said. “It’s not what I think is fair or reasonable under the evidence presented in the case.”

Mills, who said he believes that Hudson’s estate and insurance coverage can probably cover the reduced judgment, said that it is nevertheless likely that he will file an appeal.

Miller’s attorney, Andrew Banks, said he may also appeal, but he praised the judge for taking “a wonderful first step” in scaling down the award.

‘A Moral Victory’

Christian was unavailable for comment. A friend, Liberty Martin, termed the award a “moral victory.”

“Marc believed in his cause--it doesn’t matter what the size of the verdict is,” she said.

Raymond H. Blanton, one of two jurors who had voted against the $21.75-million judgment, said Friday that he agrees with the judge’s figures. He also agreed that the jury’s verdict was based on passion.

“He’s right on with that,” said the postal worker. “The award was based on a lot of emotion and not so much the facts in the case.”

Annie Espinoza, who was among the jurors voting for the $21.75-million award, said she, too, agrees with the judge’s decision to cut the amount. “I think it’s fair,” she said. “I’m not against it.”

Espinoza said she thinks that Christian should be satisfied with the money. “Don’t forget,” she said. “(Christian) was living with the guy. He’s not that innocent. He’s lucky he’s getting something.”