A Boise man has pleaded not guilty in 4th District Court to knowingly exposing five sex partners to the deadly AIDS virus.
Kerry Stephen Thomas, 25, Tuesday also entered not guilty pleas to two counts of statutory rape in the court appearance.The Boise man faces up to 75 years in prison if convicted of the AIDS-exposure charges. He is being held in lieu of a $1 million bond in the Ada County Jail.
A trial date was set for Sept. 10 by Judge George D. Carey.
Authorities claim Thomas knew he had tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a precursor to AIDS, before having sex with the women dating back to last summer.
Public defender Gus Cahill said Monday he is concerned that he will have difficulty finding an impartial jury in the highly publicized case.
Because Thomas is black and the alleged victims are white, a jury could be swayed by subtle racial prejudice, even if they don't admit being prejudiced, Cahill said.
Thomas maintained shortly after his April 25 arrest that he was not guilty. "I wouldn't deliberately try to infect someone with the HIV virus," he said.
A former college basketball player, Thomas was employed as a technician at a private psychiatric hospital at the time of his arrest.