Former San Francisco Health Commissioner First Person to Be Prosecuted for HIV Infection

A former San Francisco health commissioner who allegedly lied to an ex-boyfriend about his HIV status is the first person charged under a California law against intentionally exposing another person to the virus, according to prosecutors.

Following an indictment by a grand jury last week, Ronald Gene Hill, 46, was arrested on Tuesday in Grass Valley, 50 miles northeast of Sacramento, said Mark MacNamara, spokesperson for the San Francisco district attorney's office. As of late Wednesday, Hill was being held in the Grass Valley jail on $100,000 bail, said a jail spokesperson, who added that she was unsure whether he had an attorney. Hill is scheduled to be arraigned in San Francisco Friday, said MacNamara.

Hill, who served on the commission from 1997 to 2000, is the first to be arrested under a 1998 state law making it a crime to knowingly and intentionally expose another person to HIV. "Because this is the first case to be tried of its kind, it presents many difficulties, but the evidence to the grand jury was compelling enough to indict him," MacNamara said.

In March 2002, a San Francisco judge imposed a $5 million default judgment against Hill -- $2.5 million in punitive damages and $2.5 in damages -- to be awarded to Hill's former lover, Thomas Lister. Baron Drexel, Lister's attorney in the civil suit, said Wednesday that prosecutors were originally unwilling to bring criminal charges against Hill.

Drexel said that Lister had been dating the former health commissioner for about five months and the couple was taking a cruise in July 2000 when he discovered medical records indicating Hill was taking HIV drugs. The couple earlier had discussed their negative HIV status and both agreed to an HIV test prior to sex, said Drexel. Hill told Lester he was negative.

Lister suffered chills and fever on the cruise. One of the ship's medical staff asked the couple whether they had been tested for HIV. Both said they were negative.

After the trip, Lister tested positive, said Drexel. He sued in January 2001.

Hill disappeared during the civil trial and Lister never received any money, added Drexel.

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