The Wrong Charge

Joseph Markowski is a 29-year-old drifter with AIDS who is so emotionally unstable that the authorities have tried five times in the last five months to have him confined in a mental hospital. But under the laws he could not be held against his will, and each time he was released and left to roam the streets.

Destitute, he twice sold his contaminated blood to private blood banks and engaged in prostitution despite his disease. As a result, he now stands charged with four counts of attempted murder--a charge brought by Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, who is trying to stretch the law beyond what it was intended to cover.

No one ever got the blood that Markowski sold, and the chances are extremely small that anyone ever would have. All donated blood is routinely screened for the AIDS virus before it is transfused into another person. Nor is there evidence that the man with whom Markowski had sexual relations picked up the AIDS virus in the process.

What’s more, attempted murder requires malice. There must have been an intent to kill, which appears to be missing in this case. Markowski has reportedly told investigators that he “didn’t give a damn� what happened to anyone else, but that statement falls short of intent to kill, especially given Markowski’s history of mental instability.

Markowski’s conduct was both dangerous and reprehensible. But there are adequate laws on the books to cover such situations. In this case attempted murder does not appear to be one of them.