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rfmcdonaldThe Toronto Star was one of several news sources in Ontario which covered the story of Jon-Jo Douglas, a judge in the central Ontario city of Barrie who imposed an entirely irrational quarantine on a HIV-positive victim testifying in his court.
If Douglas stopped and thought for a moment, he'd have realized that his fears were quite ridiculous. HIV seems to have emerged in the early 20th century in central Africa. The epidemic became visible in that region starting in the mid-1970s, making its retrospectively identified appearances in North America and Europe in the late 1970s. If HIV was an airborne disease, the death toll from AIDS would have been much greater: Only a single-digit percentage of the world population possesses the CCR5-Δ32 mutation that protects against HIV infection. In John Barnes' http://www.christian-sauve.com/reviews/1996/books96b.htm#Million">shiny happy alternate history novel Kaleidoscope Century, where HIV does mutate to become an airborne virus, Barnes is probably being overly optimistic when only a tenth of the world's population dies before a vaccine is developed.
Oh well. It's some comfort to note that Douglas is no longer serving on the board of a local hospital.
The controversy surrounding the witness began on Nov. 23, during the trial of a man charged with sexually assaulting a fellow inmate at the provincial jail in Penetanguishene.
The alleged victim testified he was HIV-positive and had Hepatitis C, but didn't inform his alleged attacker because he was traumatized. "I could be ... shanked," said the man, whose identity is shielded by a publication ban.
According to a trial transcript, during the lunch break, Douglas bumped into defence lawyer Angela McLeod and voiced concern the witness had been allowed to testify without the court being informed of his health status.
When court resumed, Douglas raised the issue with McCleave, the Crown attorney as well. "I am frankly shocked that in this day and age we were not advised," he said.
McCleave replied she knew of no issues arising from the witness being in the courtroom or touching "a couple of pieces of paper" that were introduced as evidence.
That's when Douglas offered his view that HIV will live "for year after year after year" in a dried state.
McCleave explained that she wasn't prepared to ask the witness to wear a mask in court when he faces no such requirement in the community. There were also practical problems with the judge's request, she suggested – the court reporter might not be able to accurately record his testimony.
Douglas refused the Crown's request to grant a mistrial, declined to recuse himself from the case and refused to consider granting bail to the accused, Lee Wilde, when it became clear the trial would have to be adjourned until the judge's concerns were addressed.
If Douglas stopped and thought for a moment, he'd have realized that his fears were quite ridiculous. HIV seems to have emerged in the early 20th century in central Africa. The epidemic became visible in that region starting in the mid-1970s, making its retrospectively identified appearances in North America and Europe in the late 1970s. If HIV was an airborne disease, the death toll from AIDS would have been much greater: Only a single-digit percentage of the world population possesses the CCR5-Δ32 mutation that protects against HIV infection. In John Barnes' http://www.christian-sauve.com/reviews/1996/books96b.htm#Million">shiny happy alternate history novel Kaleidoscope Century, where HIV does mutate to become an airborne virus, Barnes is probably being overly optimistic when only a tenth of the world's population dies before a vaccine is developed.
Oh well. It's some comfort to note that Douglas is no longer serving on the board of a local hospital.
