Man Charged With Spreading AIDS Waives a Jury Trial

A Santa Barbara man, charged with assault for knowingly spreading the AIDS virus, forfeited his right to a jury trial Friday in an unusual legal move aimed at forcing a speedy appellate court ruling on whether he can be legally prosecuted as a criminal.

David Scott Crother, 46, agreed to have his case heard by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Lawrence Storch. The judge will hear no witnesses and review only the grand jury records--a procedure that attorneys on both sides agreed almost surely will end in conviction.

In exchange for waiving his trial rights, Crother was promised by the judge that prosecutors will drop all but two assault counts, and that he will stay out of jail if he is convicted.

The Ventura County Grand Jury indicted Crother in January, 1991, on 15 counts of assault--one for each sexual liaison he allegedly had with an unidentified woman without telling her of his illness.

The woman and a child whom Crother allegedly fathered now carry the virus that causes AIDS, while Crother has been diagnosed with acquired immune deficiency syndrome, attorneys said.

Crother’s attorney and the county prosecutor engineered the agreement for two main reasons--the unprecedented nature of the case and Crother’s failing health.

Crother, the first person in California to be charged with assault for spreading the AIDS virus through sex, might not live long enough to see the end of appeals that surely would follow a lengthy jury trial, Deputy Dist. Atty. Vincent J. O’Neill Jr. said.

“This has always been . . . a test case,” O’Neill said. “There’s no precedent unless it’s decided as a precedent by a court of appeal.”

“Mr. Crother really is not in good health,” defense attorney Robert M. Sanger said. “And the district attorney, to his credit, has decided not to attempt to severely punish Mr. Crother.”

Storch is scheduled to issue a verdict on Crother’s case in a hearing scheduled for July 13. Because of his health, Crother is excused from that hearing, but he must appear at any sentencing hearing scheduled afterward, Storch said.

As part of his trial waiver, Crother also agreed to serve probation and to perform any community service that Storch might impose if the verdict is guilty.

The conditions also could require that Crother refrain from behavior such as the acts outlined in the indictment--engaging in unprotected sex without informing his partner that he carries the AIDS virus.

O’Neill said the hearing will be based on only two of the counts--one involving a liaison at the woman’s home in April, 1989, and one at an unidentified Santa Paula motel on Aug. 1, 1989. He said he has agreed to drop the remaining 13 charges, which stem from liaisons the two allegedly had in Santa Barbara County.

Sanger said Crother agreed to the trial waiver, known as a “slow plea,” partly to speed the trial and save the victim from having to testify in open court.

But his own health was a major concern. Crother has lost at least 30 pounds since his arrest and is showing some symptoms of AIDS, Sanger said.

“He’s extremely remorseful. He’s always felt terrible about this,” Sanger said. Then, for the first time, the attorney revealed some of the circumstances of the case.

Crother was diagnosed with the AIDS virus in 1988 through a confidential test conducted by the Santa Barbara County Department of Health.

Surrounded by thin, sick-looking people in the health department waiting room, Crother reacted like many people who test positive for the AIDS virus, Sanger said. “They’re going to search things out that reaffirm their life, as opposed to facing death,” he said.

Sanger said the department counselor that Crother saw immediately after getting the news advised him, “Don’t panic, it’s OK. You’re not necessarily going to get AIDS.” Crother took the comment as reassurance that having sex might not spread the virus, Sanger said.

Sanger said he does not know whether the counselor advised Crother to use a condom when having sex. The indictment said Crother had received such a warning.

But Sanger said Crother wrongly believed at the time that the AIDS virus was more likely to be transmitted during homosexual sex than during heterosexual sex.