Ontario’s highest court has ordered a retrial for an HIV-positive Ottawa man convicted of attempted murder.
A jury found Steven Boone guilty of three counts of attempted murder and three counts of aggravated sexual assault in October 2012. Boone was also found guilty of administering a noxious thing and attempting to administer a noxious thing, but the charges were stayed by the judge.
The Crown alleged Boone set out to infect his sexual partners with HIV by not disclosing or lying about his status.
In March 2016, Boone was sentenced to 14 years in prison, minus credit for time served.
On Monday, the Ontario Court of Appeal quashed the three attempted murder convictions and ordered a new trial.
In a ruling, the court ruled the trial judge did not properly instruct the jury that it could convict the accused on attempted murder charges “only if satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the appellant acted with the purpose of killing each of the complainants.”
The court also ordered a new trial on the charge of attempting to administer a noxious thing. That conviction was stayed by the judge.
