Man Convicted of Assault for Transmitting AIDS Virus

In what attorneys say is the first case of its kind in California, a Santa Barbara man was found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon Friday for infecting a Ventura County woman with the AIDS virus.

In a non-jury trial that took less than five minutes, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Lawrence Storch convicted David Scott Crother, 46, of two counts of assault.

Each charge involved a sexual liaison that Crother had with the unidentified victim without wearing a condom or telling the woman that he carried the AIDS virus. The woman and a 2-year-old child whom Crother allegedly fathered carry the virus. Crother himself has developed AIDS.

Excused from the trial because of his failing health, Crother, a 46-year-old unemployed carpenter, had forfeited his right to a jury trial and agreed not to fight the charges. He did so knowing that Storch would hear no testimony, would read only the transcript of the grand jury investigation and would almost certainly return a guilty verdict.

The unusual legal move is aimed at forcing a speedy appellate court ruling on whether Crother can be legally prosecuted under the assault statute, said Robert Sanger, his attorney.

Sanger said he will file an appeal immediately after the sentencing hearing, scheduled for Aug. 14, so appeal courts can rule on the precedent-setting case before his client dies.

Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Vincent J. O’Neill Jr. agreed to seek probation and community service, rather than a jail sentence, in deference to Crother’s failing health and his willingness to agree to the accelerated process.

If Crother dies before his appeals are resolved, the case would become moot and no precedent would be established, the attorneys said.

“We hope the appeal will be decided in a manner that sets a precedent, that the assault charges were appropriately filed and that the conviction should stand in this case,” O’Neill said after the judge’s ruling. “The virus is a deadly weapon when another is exposed to it in that way.”

Defense attorney Sanger argued that the assault charges do not fit Crother’s behavior, and that no one should be prosecuted for spreading a disease. He contended that society should instead be working on education for the healthy, a cure for the sick and encouraging empathy for anyone stricken with AIDS.

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