AIDS Patient Who Bit Nurses Pleads Guilty

A San Diego man with AIDS who bit two nurses in a hospital pleaded guilty Tuesday to two charges of assault, in an effort to avoid standing trial for attempted murder.

Steven Paul Prior, 33, entered his guilty plea one day before he was scheduled to stand trial on two charges of premeditated attempted murder--charges arising from the contention that he deliberately tried to infect the nurses with the AIDS virus.

In a highly unusual case, Prior was at first charged with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of assault after he bit two nurses last summer at the Villa View Community Hospital.

Prior pierced the male nurses’ gloves, drawing blood during the two separate incidents that occurred on the same day, July 17.

After an apparent attempt to escape the hospital, Prior reportedly bit Donald Weber, a nurse, on the right hand, then, as he was being moved, bit another nurse, Michael Mangoian, three times on the hand and arm.

Prior had been admitted to the hospital’s medical intensive care unit July 16 after he attempted suicide by swallowing an overdose of AZT, a drug frequently used by AIDS patients to slow the progression of the deadly disease.

The district attorney’s decision to charge Prior with attempted murder created controversy, as some experts said there was no scientific evidence indicating that AIDS can be transmitted through biting.

Weber testified during preliminary hearings in August that Prior’s bite tore open an area of flesh “larger than a half dollar” between his thumb and forefinger. But, after biting him, Weber said, Prior became concerned and asked if he was hurt.

“He looked up at me and asked if I had been hurt. I said I didn’t know,” Weber testified. “I was in a state of shock that I had been bitten.”

Under the plea-bargain agreement, Prior will get a suspended prison term, unless he violates the terms of his probation.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Gordon Davis and Prior’s attorney, Bill Youmans, both said they were pleased with the case’s resolution.

“I think it’s a good resolution to this case as it stands now. We do take things like this seriously,” Davis said. “We did show a little bit of compassion, but it’s firmly tempered with the state prison sanction if he does not comply with probation. . . . If he gets out of line, he’ll go to the slammer.”

Youmans, Prior’s attorney, said his client was also pleased with the case’s resolution.

“He’s anxious to get out (of jail), return to his lover,” said Youmans, who added that Prior wants to die “with a certain amount of dignity and respect.”

San Diego Superior Court Judge Charles Hayes scheduled sentencing for Jan. 2.

This was the second recent San Diego case involving an individual infected with AIDS whose biting was considered a potentially deadly action.

In 1988, a San Diego jury acquitted a man of battery on two police officers after he bit the officers during the 1986 Gay Pride Parade in Hillcrest. The district attorney’s office attempted unsuccessfully to upgrade the charge to assault with a deadly weapon.