A judge Tuesday ordered a 29-year-old gay man who is charged with a lone misdemeanor count of spreading HIV to stop using online dating Web sites.
Thomas Miguel Guerra, aka Ashton Chavez, agreed to do so after San Diego Superior Court Judge Dan Link called it “a reasonable request” from Deputy City Attorney Taylor Garrott.
Guerra then pleaded not guilty and he remains free on $2,500 bond. If convicted, he could be sentenced to six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. A trial date was set for Nov. 13.
Garrott unsuccessfully asked Link to raise the bail to $50,000, which was objected to by his attorney, James Fitzpatrick. Link wanted to know why the prosecutor wanted such a high increase, and Garrott said Guerra was still using online dating sites.
Link said if more charges involving other victims were filed against Guerra, that would be a change of circumstances, but since there is still only one charge, “bail remains as set,” he concluded.
The single health and safety code violation was amended Tuesday to say that Guerra unlawfully exposed another man named “Charles” to HIV, which was described as a “contagious, infectious, and communicable disease.”
The City Attorney’s office, which can only file misdemeanor charges, filed the charge in May after District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis twice rejected filing any felony charges.
A former boyfriend of Guerra approached KGTV Channel 10 and did an interview in which his voice was altered and his face was done in darkened silhouette. The ex-boyfriend, referred to as “Bill,” implied that he was the victim in the case and his accusations aired last week.
“I honestly feel like I’m living some crazy Lifetime movie,” said the ex-boyfriend in the KGTV story. “I don’t even know who I was living with. I don’t know who I had fallen in love with.”
The ex-boyfriend contended his exposure to HIV may have been deliberate and there could be other victims, maybe dozens, who could have contracted the AIDS virus from Guerra.
However, Channel 10 changed its story Tuesday after the arraignment because the victim was named Charles in the amended complaint. A reporter said Bill was going to police this week to tell his story and acknowledged the victim in the complaint was someone else.
Fitzpatrick said Channel 10’s story was “sensationalized.” He added: “It’s horrible what 10 News did. It was an affront to the LGBT community.”
“Silhouette Guy is not the victim in the complaint,” said Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick said he remembers meeting the man who went to Channel 10 because he was Guerra’s boyfriend at the time. He said the man told him he was HIV+ and that happened before he met Guerra.
The defense attorney said the man identified as Bill and the alleged victim exchanged words on Facebook at the time. Fitzpatrick said he had a statement from Bill saying Guerra did not infect him with HIV.
“What the guy is saying is patently false. We’re adamantly denying any of this is true,” said Fitzpatrick.
City Attorney spokesman Michael Giorgino said the District Attorney’s office rejected the case and referred it to the City Attorney. Giorgino said they investigated it further and sent it back to Dumanis, who then returned it to City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, who then filed the charge in May.
