A string of medical professionals testified Tuesday that Craig Lamar Davis should have known he was carrying the HIV virus.
Davis is accused of having knowingly exposed women to the virus. He is on trial in Clayton County for two counts of reckless HIV, a felony in Georgia. If convicted, Davis could face up to 10 years in prison on each count.
But Davis, who turns 43 on Friday, insists medical testing for HIV is inconclusive. He says it is unclear whether he was actually HIV positive at the time he is accused of having sex with the woman who brought the charges. Davis denies having sex with the woman. He faces similar charges in Fulton County.
”There is no definitive test - scientific or medical - for (the detection) of HIV. No such thing,” John Turner, a Jonesboro defense attorney representing Davis, told the jury in his opening statement.
Bolstering Turner’s assertions is the Los Angeles-based Office of Medical and Scientific Justice, which has flown in experts at its own expense to help defend Davis. One of the experts developed the initial HIV test and has numerous patents for other diagnostic tests, Turner said.
Clayton County prosecutors put 10 witnesses on the stand Tuesday afternoon to prove that Davis had to have known he was infected with the virus when he and the alleged victim had sex in the summer of 2012. Although the victim was named in court, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s policy is not to reveal the names of victims of sexual assault.
In her opening statement, prosecutor Kathryn Powers likened Davis’ condition to carrying a deadly weapon wherever he goes.
The prosecution’s witnesses included Davis’ primary care doctor, a phlebotomist, a medical technical for Quest Diagnostics and several medical professionals who worked for the Clayton County Jail infirmary when Davis was there for an undisclosed arrest in 2009. During his 2009 stay in the Clayton jail, Davis noted he had HIV in health screening paperwork compiled by the jail’s infirmary. He also requested a high protein, high calorie diet, a regimen in line with his HIV condition, several witnesses testified.
Dr. Courtney Shelton testified Tuesday that he diagnosed Davis with HIV after he came into the emergency room at Atlanta Medical Center in March 2005. Davis came to the ER with "coughing, weakness, shortness of breath," said Shelton, an internist. "He was not feeling well and had a poor appetite."
After a series of tests and consultations with other medical staff Davis was diagnosed with thrush, a yeast infection normally found in babies and people with compromised immune systems. He also had a specific pneumonia often associated with HIV. Further tests were ordered and Davis was ultimately diagnosed with HIV, Shelton said. In fact, when Davis was told he had HIV, Shelton said his reaction was one of “indifference.”
“It might have seemed like he was aware (of his HIV status). I didn’t see shock,” Shelton said. Normally when he delivers such news, Shelton said, “It’s devastating. Some (patients) run out of the room crying and they break down. Some are in shock.”
The defense vigorously questioned the diagnosis process prompting Shelton to respond: “Medicine is very gray. There’s no absolutes except births and deaths.”
The case has drawn international attention. A film production firm that travels the global covering “unusual trials” flew in from Barcelona to cover the trial.
Testimony resumes Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. in Superior Court Judge Geronda V. Carter’s courtroom.
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