11/24/24
October 29, 2005
CFL player arrested for sexual assault, also HIV positive: Trevis Smith, a linebacker for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders, has been under investigation for several months after a British Columbia woman accused him. After his arrest, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police revealed his medical condition out of concern for others Smith may have infected.
Actually, he's an American from Alabama.
posted by mkn at 12:48 AM on October 30, 2005
If guilty, lock him in a cell with Lawrence Phillips and let them play touch football. If not guilty, I hope he wins a multimillion $$ lawsuit against the authorities for publicly disclosing his condition.
posted by sandman at 02:18 AM on October 30, 2005
Has any pro athlete since Magic Johnson played after testing positive for HIV? Or, possibly better wording, played after knowledge of a positive test became public? I'd think a heavy contact sport like football where blood, spit and sweat are constantly exchanged would be much less likely to allow some one like Smith to play than the NBA, but then I don't recall anyone since Magic being publicly acknowledged as HIV positive either.
posted by billsaysthis at 11:58 AM on October 30, 2005
Ummm.....haven't they charged people with attempted murder or manslaughter or something for just having sex with people and not telling them they are HIV positive? I'm not saying lets put sign on all HIV positive people saying they are, but at least tell someone the kind of risk they are taking by being with them.....but take sexual assault and that's cruel. Women flock to professional athletes to give them a one nighter just to say they did. How many has he possibly infected? I think it's just wrong.
posted by Irish Gal at 07:56 PM on October 30, 2005
billsaysthis, I expect if one were to look, one would find policies in the NFL regarding measures for mopping up the blood and not allowing it to just spray everywhere. Just about every sporting organization seems to have these nowadays. With such measures in place, I wouldn't worry about HIV, which doesn't survive well at all outside the human body. Hep B can survive for a week in a smear of dried blood; HIV isn't like that. Irish Gal, what makes you know someone's HIV negative? Leaving out the issue of sexual assault, where there's no choice involved, if you have unprotected sex with someone, you're willingly exposing yourself to anything in their system. That can include HIV, it can include other pathogens that are just as fatal and much more transmissible, it can include pathogens they haven't even named yet. Yes, the responsible thing to do is to tell your partner if you know you're positive, but a lot of people walk around with a lot of nasty stuff in their bloodstreams and don't know it. It's a "buyer, beware" situation, and you're best off protecting yourself rather than playing it like a crapshoot.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 08:11 PM on October 30, 2005
brown bat having sex with someone when the HIV person knows they have HIV and does not tell the victim, is a crime in America at least for possible criminal and civil action. (although prosecution is rare for it is hard to prove but with a higher rate of conviction rate for RAPE cases and extramarital affair typee situations) Having unprotected sex, with someone is of course a risk, but this is not the issue here as germane to the article. If you read the article, it was that the player may have sexually assaulted somone, AKA RAPED a female. crapshoot shit, the dude may have forced sex. This is not buyer beware, it sounds as though you side with the suspected rapist. Someone having sex unprotected is contributory negligence on their part but it does not exculpate the person who is known HIV positive. The article and its content is insolent and I only pray that dude's dick rots off and he gets his is he's been sleeping with people and not telling his HIV status.
posted by T$PORT4lawschool at 09:57 PM on October 30, 2005
it sounds as though you side with the suspected rapist If you know and love the little brown bat like we do, you wouldn't make this stupid comment. You have taken what she said completely out of context, as she was referring to the generalised situations implied by IrishGal, not the specific case of the football player. (I know you can defend yourself more than adequately LBB, but I thought I'd get this in while the time zone's in my favour)
posted by owlhouse at 12:05 AM on October 31, 2005
T$PORT4lawschool, if you're going to pass legal exams or be admitted to the bar, you'd better study up on some rules of evidence.
posted by owlhouse at 12:13 AM on October 31, 2005
T$PORT4lawschool, I'd like to know what you mean by writing that it is a crime in America. Do you mean America in the broad sense of the word (as the crime took place in Canada and will be tried there) or are you just saying that if it had happened in the U.S.A., it would have been handled in the manner you described?
posted by Judas at 08:11 AM on October 31, 2005
T$PORT4lawschool, are you actually in law school? In the United States? I'm impressed. Can you tell me how you beat the system?
posted by lil_brown_bat at 08:17 AM on October 31, 2005
I believe T$PORT4lawschool was referring to the laws in most states that makes knowing transmission of HIV a crime. I think it is a little over-the-top to reveal his HIV status absent evidence that he knowingly transmitted HIV. If they are charging him with that as a crime, then it is difficult to avoid it being made public.
posted by bperk at 12:22 PM on October 31, 2005
I believe T$PORT4lawschool was referring to the laws in most states Neither here nor there. The crime took place in BC.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 02:26 PM on October 31, 2005
It's just been announced that the team knew about the charges and that had tested positive for HIV. However, they had no legal recourse to reveal this information to anyone (press or other players), since no charges had been laid and medical information (in Canada, at least) is strictly confidential. As bad as it may seem now, I'm glad the team did the right thing and kept their mouth shut.
posted by grum@work at 10:33 PM on October 31, 2005
Theres a canadian for ya.... jk for all of you offended out there! :)