Jose Carmona, 35, is said to have spat in Trooper Al Drake’s face when Drake and a colleague responded to a traffic accident Carmona was involved in. Carmona then allegedlly told the trooper he was going to die. Carmona denies most of what the trooper and his colleague say happened that night.
HIV and AIDS educators say there is no documented case of HIV being transferred by saliva and that the attempted murder charge should never have been brought.
Despite his acquittal, Carmona will spend at least nine years in prison for injuring Drake in a scuffle that injured the trooper’s hand during the April incident.