From: Date: Thu, 9 Feb 1995 16:06:46 -0500 Subject: NGLTF PRESS: HIV Status Admitted in Murder Trial ************************************************* National Gay and Lesbian Task Force NEWS RELEASE Contact: Robin Kane (202) 332-6483 ext. 3311 (800) 757-7736 pager Beth Barrett (202) 332-6483 ext. 3215 2320 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20009 ************************************************* HIV STATUS ADMITTED IN MURDER TRIAL NGLTF Calls Judge's Decision "Reprehensible" Washington, D.C. -- February 9, 1995 -- Jurors in the murder case of two gay men learned the HIV status of both victims today. Despite legal arguments against disclosure, Circuit Court Judge Billy Landrum today allowed the defense to release the HIV status of Robert Walters and Joseph Shoemake. The bodies of the two men were discovered near a railroad track outside of Laurel, Mississippi in early October 1994. At that time, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) claimed "no confidence" in the local authorities due to a history of homophobia on the part of the Jones County Sheriff's Department. NGLTF immediately called upon Attorney General Janet Reno to conduct a federal investigation. The Attorney General's office responded that it would be unable to act because there is no criminal civil rights law providing protection on the basis of sexual orientation. "Today is a sad day for the civil rights of people with AIDS," said Beth Barrett, NGLTF spokesperson. "The trial of two gay men, brutally murdered in Laurel, Mississippi, has taken a turn for the worse. The judge's decision to divulge the HIV status of Robert Walters and Joseph Shoemake to the jury is reprehensible. This is clearly an attempt to play on society's fear of people with AIDS. HIV status is never an excuse for murder." "That the bodies of two murdered men were subjected to posthumous HIV testing is unthinkable. That their HIV status has now been released to the jury is inexcusable," Barrett added. "The prosecution and the defense in this case should avoid legal strategies that play upon the societal fears and prejudices of racism, homophobia and AIDS- phobia. It is our hope that the jury will see past this ploy when deliberating the facts of this heinous crime."