To: MoneyMade who wrote (392 ) 12/6/1998 10:34:00 AM From: MoneyMade Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 15987
Man convicted for injecting his son with HIV virus Brian Stewart is consoled by his attorney after the verdict was read December 6, 1998 Web posted at: 4:48 a.m. EDT (0448 GMT) ST. CHARLES, Missouri (CNN) -- A man accused of injecting his 11-month-old son with HIV-tainted blood in order to avoid paying child support was convicted Saturday of first-degree assault. Sentencing for Brian Stewart, 32, of Columbia, Illinois, was set for Jan. 8. Jurors returned their verdict against Stewart after deliberating for about eight hours. They recommended life in prison. If his son dies, Stewart could be charged with first-degree murder. The boy's mother, identified only as Jennifer to protect the boy's identity, wept briefly after the verdict was read. Prosecutors used circumstantial evidence to convince the jury that Stewart, a phlebotomist whose job it was to draw blood from hospital patients, stole HIV-infected blood from his workplace and injected it into the boy during a hospital visit in 1992. The boy, now 7, has AIDS. Prosecutor Ross Buehler called the injection a "death sentence" for the child. "He had the knowledge and training to commit this offense," Buehler said during closing arguments. "And more importantly, had the motive." Prosecutors claimed Stewart did it to avoid child support payments. Defense attorney Joe Murphy denied the allegations, saying the prosecution presented no actual proof that Stewart injected his son. "A tragedy is not a crime and theories are not facts," Murphy said. "Mom made an allegation and everyone ran with it." Stewart is expected to appeal the conviction