Judge Orders Use of Sex-Consent Form

L.A. Times Archives

Jan. 24, 1998 12 AM PT

From Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. — The next time Jerrime Day is about to go to bed with a woman, his partner will have to sign a form that reads something like this:

“I -----, being fully informed of the fact that Jerrime Day is positive with HIV, do consent to have sex with him.”

A judge ordered Day, 20, to have all future sex partners sign the form as part of his two-year probation for having sex with a woman without telling her that he has the AIDS virus. The form must be signed in front of a witness.

Day pleaded no contest Wednesday to the misdemeanor. He faced almost four years in prison if convicted. Other conditions of his probation include taking an AIDS awareness class and staying away from the woman.

Orange County Judge Deb Blechman said the forms are her way of making sure others aren’t blindly exposed to the disease.

“If the consequences weren’t so severe, then none of this would be necessary,” she said.

Day’s own lawyer said he came up with the idea to protect his client from future sex partners who may claim they didn’t know of his condition.

“The judge was looking for some way to make his future partners absolutely aware that he was HIV-positive, and I was looking to protect him from partners who would say they weren’t warned,” Timothy Hartung said Friday.

Under the terms of his probation, Day--who works as a handyman on a farm near Orlando--must get the written permission from his sex partner before having intercourse. He also has to show the form to his probation officer.

Once his probation ends, Day won’t be obligated to get written permission.

Although the forms haven’t been created, Day’s current girlfriend will be the first to sign sometime next week, the lawyer said.

Day was charged with the crime in 1996 after a 16-year-old sexual partner who became infected with the virus complained to authorities.

A few other women reportedly complained that they had had sex with Day without realizing he was HIV-positive, but they refused to prosecute.

Day was 16 when he found out he was infected with HIV. He does not have AIDS.

“The one thing that Jerrime didn’t know was how contagious and how difficult his condition was,” Hartung said. “I’m not sure he understood the full impact at the time.”

Although judges have wide latitude in setting probation conditions, the sex-consent form may invade the privacy of Day’s future sexual partners by letting other people know they are sleeping with someone who is HIV-positive, said Jack King, a spokesman for the National Assn. of Criminal Defense Lawyers in Washington.

“I think it’s terrible. It’s humiliating,” King said. “The potential to cause harm to his potential sexual partners is too great a risk for this.”