Jury Seated in Trial of HIV-Positive Woman
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A jury was seated Monday in the Compton Superior Court trial of a 46-year-old woman who is HIV-positive and accused of engaging in prostitution.
Panchita Hall was charged under a 1988 state law that requires convicted prostitutes who have been informed that they are HIV-positive to be charged with a felony upon their next arrest.
Hall has six convictions for prostitution since a court-ordered test in 1995 found she had HIV, records show.
Opening statements begin today. A felony conviction carries a three-year sentence, but a prosecutor plans to ask for an enhanced sentence of as much as nine years. Hall’s trial is expected to last three days.
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