Australia: No more appeals for Andree Chad Parenzee

Andree Chad Parenzee – who was found guilty in Adeleide in 2006 of three counts of endangering life, has run out appeals.

He originally appealed last year by arguing that HIV does not cause AIDS and cannot be sexually transmitted. That appeal failed spectularly, and he was sentenced to nine years in jail. He appealed again in July, but that also failed.

Now, South Australia's Court of Criminal Appeal has ruled that his most recent appeal applications were "incompetent".

Full story from The Sydney Morning Herald below.

HIV man loses appeal against conviction
AAP/Sydney Morning Herald
September 16, 2008

An HIV-positive man jailed for having unprotected sex with three Adelaide women has lost a bid to have his case reopened.

Andre Chad Parenzee, 37, had tried to appeal against his conviction after being jailed for nine years in 2007 on three counts of endangering life.

He was charged after one of his victims, a mother of two, became infected with HIV.

In a majority verdict in South Australia's Court of Criminal Appeal, Parenzee's application for an extension of time to appeal and his application for leave to appeal were both dismissed.

In a two-one judgment, the court ruled that both his applications were incompetent.

Chief Justice John Doyle said that while he would have granted leave to appeal, he would have rejected the final appeal anyway.

He said evidence from doctors who dealt with Parenzee provided a solid basis for the jury to find that he knew that by having unprotected sex he would create a real, or significant risk, of infecting a woman with HIV.

"The evidence that Mr Parenzee gave about his state of knowledge and belief was, on my own assessment, unconvincing," Justice Doyle said.

"In any event, it was certainly open to the jury to reject much of his evidence."

In his appeal, Parenzee had argued there was no quantifiable evidence at his trial to prove he was likely to be putting anyone's life in danger when he had sex, or that he knew he was doing so.

"There was no evidence Mr Parenzee was told that having unprotected sex would lead to a person's life being in danger," his lawyer Andrew Tokley said.

"Parenzee believed that if he didn't ejaculate while having unprotected sex there was no risk to his partner."

Prosecutor Martin Hinton QC said Parenzee knew about the risks of unprotected sex within weeks of his diagnosis but had failed to tell his partner.

"He said he had cancer ... she is never told he has HIV until very late."

Last year, Parenzee lost a previous bid to appeal against his conviction after unsuccessfully arguing that HIV did not exist and could not be sexually transmitted.

An application to appeal his conviction to the High Court was expected.

With time off for good behaviour, Parenzee will be eligible to be released in 2011.