Episode 78: Clark Baker on Craig Lamar Davis’ Conviction on Aggravated Assault with a Fake ‘Deadly Weapon’ [ 48 min 25 s | 27.71 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (568)

On January 21, 2014 — the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. Day — a jury in Atlanta found African-American Craig Lamar Davis guilty of two counts of aggravated assault for not telling his sexual partners that he had tested “HIV positive” in 2005. Three expert witnesses had testified as to how inaccurate and illogical HIV testing is, and Davis’ doctors and lab each admitted that they had not adequately diagnosed him. The jury did not explain this contradiction. Clark Baker of the Office of Medical and Scientific Justice (OMSJ) talks about his organization’s involvement in the case and what the verdict means, going forward.

Calling Davis’ alleged HIV infection a “deadly weapon,” Clayton County Prosecutor Kathryn Powers did her best to whip up AIDS-related fears and phobias. That was enough to convince a jury conditioned by more than 30 years of AIDS propaganda — much of it aimed at African-Americans. Not even OMSJ’s expert scientific witnesses Rodney Richards, Ph.D.; David Rasnick, Ph.D.; and Nancy Turner Banks, M.D. could stop the madness. Davis now faces up to 20 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for February 21.

David and Beth note the similarities  between this trial and the July 2013 trial of Nushawn Williams in Upstate New York. “How Positive Are You” interviewed Ithaca College Professor Thomas Shevory, author of Notorious HIV:The Media Spectacle of Nushawn Williams, in Episode 64.

With a mission “to protect and defend the victims and witnesses of medical and scientific corruption,” Baker founded OMSJ as a California licensed private investigation agency in 2009. Before becoming the organization’s CEO and principal investigator, he had served his country in the United States Marine Corps and retired from a distinguished career in the Los Angeles Police Department. OMSJ’s HIV Innocence Group has assisted in the defense of more than 50 criminal cases, with all but four resulting in favorable plea agreements, acquittal, or the withdrawal of all HIV-related charges. The Letterhead Project and Scarlet Letter help alleged HIV positives document their misdiagnoses.

One of the prosecution’s witnesses, Courtney Shelton, M.D., of Atlanta Medical Center, is listed on ProPublica’s “Dollars for Docs” database receiving gifts from a pharmaceutical company. Dr. Shelton admitted on the stand that he never actually diagnosed Davis as having HIV. In Baker’s estimation, “roughly 90% of all HIV-positive results were probably never diagnosed, because a test result is not a diagnosis.  Doctors and clinics sidestep this fact by using what Baker calls a “psychologically manipulative script” that moves the conversation quickly from an alleged test result to seeking “supportive” friends and outing sexual partners.

View a thought-provoking analysis of the trial by Liam Scheff here. Sign up for OMSJ’s newsletter to stay informed on these issues.