 After two days of testimony, a jury of nine men and three women deliberated for just a few hours before finding Kanay Mubita, 31, guilty on 11 counts of failing to inform his sexual partners he is HIV positive March 30.
Two other counts were dismissed after one alleged victim could not be found to testify and another was uncooperative.
District Judge John Stegner will sentence Mubita May 24. Mubita could be sentenced to as much as 165 years in prison, 15 years for each count, and fines of up $55,000. He will remain in the Latah County Jail, where he has been held on $25,000 bail since December, until his sentencing.
Under Idaho law, anyone who knows they are infected with the HIV virus must inform their partner before engaging in sex.
All 11 women who testified in the three-day trial said Mubita failed to tell them he was HIV positive before engaging in sex with them. The women stated no condom had been used during their sexual activity with Mubita. Many of the women stated they had sex with Mubita shortly after meeting him, saying he was a smooth talker who knew what they wanted to hear. He told some of the women he was in law school or a lawyer and wanted to marry them.
Latah County Public Defender Charles Kovis tried to convince the jury that Mubita was innocent by producing a medical document that showed Mubita was HIV negative in 2001 and by asserting that Mubita, a native of Zambia, Africa, had difficulty with the English language, which may have made him not understand his HIV status. The defense's only witness, Larry Harries, a Lewiston physician, testified that he read the report incorrectly, instead of HIV, Mubita tested negative for other sexually transmitted diseases, Chlamydia and gonorrhea.
Health officials initially told Mubita of his HIV status when he and his then wife tested positive for the disease in December of 2001.
According to the Latah County Health District, Mubita was told several times he was HIV positive and had worked with him for four years. Jenny Ruppel, a caseworker, testified that Mubita received help with medical treatment, rent, groceries, travel expenses and utility payments. He could only get those services if he was HIV positive, she said. Records also indicated that Mubita signed a form stating he was required to inform his sexual partners of his HIV status.
In her closing arguments, Latah County Deputy Prosecutor Michelle Evans stated it was a simple case: Mubita knew he was HIV positive and didn't tell his sexual partners.
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