The popular Cronicle eventing forum has been aflutter today with a supposed update on the Chiacchia HIV case, which is essentially a non-update about a non-development about what sis by now a depressing footnote in eventing history. Frankly I was tired of this sad story 12 months ago and I have been trying to ignore the convoluted machinations of the Florida lawyers and courts until a resolution is reached, which will surely be in some way further saddening and depressing. But, it is worth a quick clarification that the origination of the latest update is this article from Monday night on WCTV, the local Tallahassee CBS affiliate, and not the story currently linked on the forums.
Essentially, the case has been postponed until August and Chiacchia’s lawyer told WCTV that he will move 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.” Chiacchia was arrested in January 2010 for having sex with a partner without disclosing he was HIV positive. If this is like any legal battle, this is just one of many postponements and motions to throw the case out and there will likely be many more. That’s all for now and hopefully for a while.
