Alleged Spitting Leaves Retiree Fearful of AIDS

A San Clemente man who may have AIDS was charged with attempted murder for allegedly spitting in the face of a 73-year-old woman at a political rally for Gov. Bill Clinton on Thursday.

Police took David Mazer, 44, into custody after his confrontation with the Mission Viejo retiree, a Bush supporter, outside the Pacific Amphitheatre shortly before 10 p.m.

Mazer is being held in Orange County Jail on $250,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in Harbor Court on Monday. Police say Mazer told them that he is infected with the AIDS virus and has six months to live.

The forced exchange of bodily fluids such as saliva or blood by an AIDS sufferer is usually reason enough to file attempted murder charges, police said.

“When somebody indicates they have AIDS, it’s either assault with a deadly weapon or attempted murder,” said Costa Mesa police Lt. Gary Webster. “Number one, this lady believes he attempted to kill her, and number two, he was obviously upset and made a real point to expectorate on her.”

As the number of AIDS cases continue to rise, the legal system is grappling with the issue of intentional infliction of the virus.

Prosecutors say that proving intent to harm is essential and sometimes difficult. Also a factor is providing evidence that AIDS can be transmitted by methods such as biting and spitting.

A police spokesman said the courts will probably order tests to determine whether Mazer is AIDS-positive, and the results will take several days, said a police spokesman. The woman was taken to Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach where doctors washed out the eye where the saliva landed.

The woman, who asked not to be identified “because I don’t want anyone feeling sorry for me,” said doctors indicated she must take blood tests for the next 14 months to determine if the virus has infected her.

“I’m still in shock,” she said in a sob-filled voice on Friday. “I think that my life is in jeopardy, and I’m going to have to live with this for 14 months.”

Speaking from her home in the Mission Viejo retirement community of Costa del Sol, the woman said Mazer’s first, bitterly angry words to her indicated that he has the deadly disease.

She said that while she was standing on a curb outside the Pacific Amphitheatre, holding an American flag in one hand and a pro-Bush sign in the other, Mazer “walked right up to me and said, ‘Bush is the reason that I’m dying from AIDS.’ ”

After her brief reply, the woman said, Mazer without warning spat in her face and shoved her. She called out to police standing nearby, who apprehended Mazer.

Like much of the controversy surrounding the deadly virus, the question of whether AIDS can be transmitted through exchange of saliva is hotly contested by physicians.

“Some doctors have the opinion that AIDS can be passed through French-kissing,” said Bob Riverall, coordinator of the Laguna Beach Community Clinic’s AIDS education and testing program. “The bottom line is that we still don’t know all the ways that AIDS is transmitted.”

Traces of the virus have been found in saliva, Riverall said. “But the Centers for Disease Control still tells us that the only known ways that AIDS can be contracted is through blood and sexual contact.”

The retiree, a former caretaker for the sick and elderly, said what disturbs her as much as the possibility of contracting AIDS is being assaulted for her political beliefs.

“That was an attack, pure and simple,” the woman said. “I’m really concerned about what’s happening in this country. It seems like the whole world is turning upside down.”

But despite the confrontation Thursday night, the retiree said she planned to continue actively campaigning for the Republican Party.

“I’ll never quit,” she said. “People sit at home and watch TV and complain about politics instead of doing something about it. Well, I’m not going to give up.”