Man convicted of HIV crime but later vindicated sues state
DES MOINES, Iowa – A man whose conviction for having sex with another man while infected with HIV was overturned took his case to the Iowa Supreme Court on Tuesday, seeking to recover damages for the time he spent in custody.
Nick Rhoades, 41, was charged with criminal transmission of HIV in 2008 after having sex with a man he met in an Internet chat room. When the man later discovered Rhoades had been infected with HIV 10 years earlier, he reported it to authorities. At the advice of his attorney, Rhoades entered a plea agreement with prosecutors. He was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
The case drew national attention as an increasing number of states passed laws making it a serious crime for people with HIV to engage in sex, risking the transmission of the virus that causes AIDS. Gay rights advocates and other critics said the laws were a sign legislatures were ruled by fear and lack of knowledge about the virus and how it is transmitted.
After Rhoades spent several months in prison in 2009, a judge reconsidered his case and reduced his sentence to five years of probation but maintained the requirement that Rhoades register as a sex offender. He appealed his conviction in an effort to clear his name.
The Iowa Supreme Court in June 2014 found there was insufficient factual basis to support Rhoades’ plea and overturned his conviction. Six of the seven justices concluded that intimate contact itself is not enough to establish a factual basis that an exchange of bodily fluid took place or that Rhoades intentionally exposed his partner.
Last May, Rhoades sued the state of Iowa alleging wrongful imprisonment. A judge dismissed the case in June and Rhoades appealed.
John McCormally, an attorney representing the state argued to the Supreme Court on Tuesday that Rhoades should not be eligible to recover damages because he had pleaded guilty and the wrongful imprisonment statute excludes recovery for those who admit guilt.
Rhoades’ attorney, Dan Johnston, argued that the court ruled his plea was invalid as if it was never entered.
“The police shouldn’t have arrested him, the county attorney shouldn’t have filed the charges, the judge shouldn’t have accepted the guilty plea, and his own attorney shouldn’t have let him plead guilty,” Johnston said.
Even after the court’s reversal of his conviction, the case still comes up in job interviews and searches for his name may still turn up sex offender references, Johnston said. Rhoades is seeking compensation for the year he spent behind bars so he can get on with his life.
The court is tasked with deciding under what circumstances, if any, a person who pleaded guilty to a charge, may recover money for wrongful imprisonment.
State law allows repayment of fines, court costs and attorney fees in cases of wrongful imprisonment. It allows payment of $50 for each day spent incarcerated and pays the value of lost wages or other income up to $25,000.
Rhoades also has filed a legal malpractice lawsuit against his trial defense attorney.