A Dallas County jury has sentenced an HIV-positive man to 35 years in prison for spitting on a police officer.
Willie Campbell, 42, was convicted of harassment of a public servant, according to reports in the Dallas Morning News.
Dallas Police Officer Dan Waller testified that while he was arresting Campbell for public intoxication in May 2006, Campbell began kicking the computer screen in the police car and then spit into Waller’s face, hitting him in the eye and mouth. Campbell then told the officer he had AIDS.
A second officer testified that Campbell had also spit on him during an unrelated incident. During the officer’s testimony, Campbell jumped out of his seat and began yelling at the man, saying the officer was lying and that officials were trying to railroad him.
Campbell told prosecutors in the case that they would "rot in hell," the Morning News reported.
Campbell also has a history of biting fellow jail inmates, according to the report.
Campbell must serve half of his sentence before he will be eligible for parole because the jury found that his HIV-positive saliva is a deadly weapon.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 16, 2008.