HIV-positive man failed to use protection

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- The attorney for an HIV-positive Minnesota man found guilty of passing the virus during sex said he would appeal the jury verdict against his client.

Attorney Landon Ascheman said prosecutors used a vague interpretation of a 16-year-old state law to convict Daniel James Rick of attempted first-degree assault, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

The jury that convicted Rick, 30, was convinced he told his partner he was HIV-positive but found him guilty anyway.

Ascheman said the jury determined what mattered was Rick's failure to use protection.

"Because he didn't use any protection, it didn't matter if he told or not," Ascheman said. "Reading the statute exactly as it is, they were told they essentially had to convict him."

It took the jury about 2 hours Friday to reach its verdict. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 28.

Rick was charged in February 2010 with raping a drunken man who later contracted the virus. The publicity from that case led two other men to come forward and accuse Rick of not disclosing he was HIV-positive when he had sex with them.

Rick faces charges in those two cases.