Citation

AIDS Policy Law 1997; 12(20): 5.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, Buraff Publications)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11364787

Abstract

The Washington State appellate court reversed a felony murder conviction of Joe Wayne Macom on a technicality. Macom was accused of murdering the HIV-positive husband of his friend's lover. The friend, Steven Pagnano, had sexual relations with an HIV-positive woman. When confronted, the woman and her husband acknowledged that they were both HIV-positive. Pagnano and Macom forced the husband, Glen Urpman, to ride in their car. During the drive, Macom allegedly shot Urpman and was subsequently convicted of first-degree murder. The case was appealed on the grounds that the charge against Macom omitted a key element of felony murder--that Urpman was not a victim in the underlying crime of kidnapping. The judges noted that reversals of convictions based on technicalities damage the integrity of the U.S. judicial system.

Language: en