HIV-as-terrorism charges have taken a toll, defendant says

Clinton Township resident Daniel Allen, 45, says that while he is relieved that bio-terrorism charges leveled against him because of an October 2009 fight have been dismissed, the stress has taken a toll on him.

He says the stress has disrupted his sleep patterns and taken a toll on his memory. That, in turn, has caused him to forget important meetings, doctors appointments and even doses of his anti-retroviral medications.

Macomb county prosecutors charged Allen in November under a bio-terrorism statute. They say he attacked 28-year-old Winfred Fernandis, Jr. on October 18 over a dispute regarding a football that kept landing on Allen’s front yard. Fernandis alleges Allen “hugged up” to him and bit him during the altercation, a charge Allen denies.

In fact, Allen claims the incident was only the culmination of years of anti-gay harassment directed at him by Fernandis and his family. Allen alleges that on Oct. 18 Fernandis and family members attacked him. He filed a complaint with the Clinton Township FBI, which said it could not pursue the case because it happened before a new federal hate crimes law came into effect.

Because Allen admitted to being HIV-positive during a late October interview with Fox 2 News, Macomb County Prosecutors alleged he possessed a harmful device — in this case HIV — with an intent to harm or terrorize another. The case drew national attention, and advocates and experts pointed out that HIV is not transmitted by saliva.

On Thursday, Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Peter Maceroni agreed with advocates and Allen’s defense attorney and tossed the charge out.

Another issue not dealt with in court filings or arguments is the fact that Allen has been on successful treatment for the virus for several years. That treatment has reduced his viral load — a measure of the amount of virus in the blood and an indication of the infectiousness of a person — to undetectable. The Swiss High Court ruled recently that a person on successful anti-retroviral therapy who maintained an undetectable viral load for more than 6 months and was not infected with any other sexually transmitted infections, was legally considered non-infectious.

The criminal charges have taken a physical toll on Allen. He says he is fatigued all the time, and unable to engage in things that used to bring him joy — such as his yard work.

“I really enjoyed it, but now I don’t. At my own home I am afraid. I have to lock myself in because I am afraid what’s going to happen to me in the neighborhood,” Allen said.

That fear is not only a result of the fight, he says, but the continuing harassment he is receiving since the story has garnered national attention. He says he gets text messages, phone calls and email messages from people threatening him and calling him names.

“They were threatening me, calling me faggot, nigger and something about AIDS, you know?” he said of one anonymous texter who stopped when Allen threatened to go to the police. He has also received phone calls telling him to “watch out” because the caller “knows where you live.” And other callers and emails have alleged that Allen has had sex with them in an attempt to infect them with the virus.

In Michigan, it is a felony to for a person who knows he or she is HIV-positive to engage in sexual penetration, however slight, without first disclosing their status. To Allen’s knowledge, none of those allegations have been made to a police agency.

In spite of all this, Allen is not backing down. He says it has reaffirmed his will to fight HIV and the stigma associated with the illness.

“I don’t know why people are negative about people with HIV. It’s like — in so many words — people think people with HIV asked for it,” Allen said. “Like just because you have it, you are less of a person than they are.”

“I have HIV, but I’m living with HIV, not dying,” Allen said. “Life is not promised to anyone. You can be here one day and dead the next. Everyone has to die from something. But having HIV does not mean I am going to die from it.”