All Charges Dropped Against Darren Chiacchia

By John on

From WCTV:

“Darren Chiacchia’s lawyer Baron Coleman tells WCTV, all charges have been dropped against Darren who was accused of having sex with a partner without informing him he was infected with HIV.”  [WCTV]

WCTV, which is Tallahassee, Florida’s CBS affiliate, does not say why the case was dismissed, but in July WCTV reported that Chiacchia’s lawyer said he was moving to have the case dismissed because “Florida’s second district court of appeals issued an opinion that said the statute under which Darren was charged only applies to male/female intercourse.”  Hopefully this is the last chapter of a very sad case and situation.

Update: According to RMHP, the judge dismissed the case because of “the recent ruling made by the Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal, stating the sex covered in the statute was exclusive to a man and a woman.”  Apparently the District Attorney’s Office has the intent to appeal. 

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  • amy

    if that's really the reason, i sincerely hope that discriminatory law is changed soon.

  • ottb

    yes, they should get rid of that loophole

  • chris

    Appalling. This is incredibly unfair for the unfortunate man.

  • Jennifer

    From a legal perspective -- there is a difference between charges being dropped and a Judge granting the defendant's motion to dismiss. From reports, it looks like the DA's office made the decision to drop the charges, meaning they determined there wasn't sufficient evidence to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. That said, the charges being dropped could be based on lots of different reasons having nothing to do with a legal "loophole." It's a really sad case, and I sincerely wish both parties involved are able to move forward with their lives.

  • Trott

    Only male/female?? That just seems insane. It completely devalues the life of the victim. It's sad & criminal!!

  • girl

    What a relief! After all, he is completely innocent regardless of the accusations. You rock Darren!

  • Beth

    This case was dismissed on the merits alone which turned out that there was not enough evidence against Darren to proceed with it!!

  • Rate My Horse PRO

    Thank-you to John for utilizing part of Rate My Horse PRO's story regarding the judge's decision. To clarify, the charge was not dropped. The Judge dismissed the charge at this week's hearing due to the the recent ruling made by the Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal.

    The District Attorney's Office has already filed an appeal. If interested, you can read the entire story or view the 2nd DCA ruling at http://www.ratemyhorsepro.com/news/judge-dismisses-felony-against-chiacchia.aspx

  • patrice

    Amazing how many people, with no personal knowledge whatsoever, assume that the charges are true! Why????? Because you are haters? Because you are naive? Because you believe that law enforcement, DA's etc. are always above board, correct and never have axes to grind, or are climbing their particular career ladders? And remember this is in FLORIDA!!!!!

  • Mayadinya Farm

    We don't know enough about the case or these two men to pass judgment. If Darren is HIV-positive he needs our support. If one of his partners contracted HIV, he needs our support, too. OK, so both parties should have been more responsible and practiced safe sex. But there are plenty of times in all our lives that we should have done something better, more responsibly, more adult, but that we failed to do. That's human nature, and human nature is imperfect. So let's just back off and stop passing judgment so quickly.

  • ItalHorseman

    Darren is my friend. He is passionate about what he does with horses and he is happy to share it with whomever; he does not deserve to be maligned by fools that don't know both sides of the story.

    No matter who we sleep with, the 50/50 gamble of HIV is always there. WE choose to take the gamble of safety or not. Isn't this a tenet of horsemanship? Safety first - so always wear your helmet while riding!

    If you don't know the whole story, then don't pass judgement. The story is based on speculation and accusation - how can you judge a question?