VENTURA : Court Rules Against Man in AIDS Case

The first man in California to be charged with assault for allegedly spreading the AIDS virus through sex has no right to hear the evidence against him before trial, a state appeals court ruled Friday.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that the 1990 Crime Victims Justice Reform Act denies David Scott Crother, 45, of Santa Barbara the right to a preliminary hearing.

The act, which is known as Proposition 115 and is meant to streamline court proceedings, allows prosecutors to bring defendants to trial through secret grand jury proceedings rather than preliminary hearings in which defendants can cross-examine their accusers.

The Ventura County grand jury indicted Crother in January on 15 counts of assault with a deadly weapon--one for each sexual liaison that he allegedly had with an unidentified Ventura County woman between September, 1988, and August, 1989.

The woman and the child Crother allegedly fathered have tested positive for the AIDS virus, prosecutors say.

Crother’s attorney, Robert Sanger, said he plans to file an appeal with the state Supreme Court next week.

The high court has ruled that crimes committed before the June 5, 1990, passage of Proposition 115 are subject to its laws, but has not ruled on the constitutionality of denying defendants the right to a preliminary hearing after they are indicted, Sanger said.

Once this issue is resolved, the Ventura County Superior Court still has to rule on pending legal arguments over whether the assault charges fit the allegations against Crother. Sanger asserts they do not.

Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Vincent J. O’Neill Jr. said the appeals court ruling cited Proposition 115 itself in saying that no one has the right to a preliminary hearing after being indicted.

The law “amended the state Constitution, so to me it’s a clear-cut outcome that you can’t interpret one constitutional provision to override another,” O’Neill said.