Court dismisses appeal from Dubuque man who spread HIV

An appellate court judge has dismissed an appeal from a 36-year-old Dubuque man who says his sentence for transmitting HIV to a mentally handicapped woman was cruel and unusual punishment and that he was incompetent when he pleaded guilty and receiving ineffective counsel.

According to the opinion, which was issued by the Iowa Court of Appeals, Justin A. Keene's claim of incompetency “is too late.”

“Even if this is not the case, there was medical evidence that Keene was not suffering from any mental condition that would render him incompetent,” according to the opinion, which goes on to say that there is “no evidence to support his claims of ineffective assistance of counsel.”

As to Keene's contention that the 25-year suspended sentence he received in 2000 amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment,” the appellate court judge found the issue moot, arguing that he has already been released from custody.

“So a decision on the issue he raises would have no legal effect in Keene's case,” according to the opinion.  “The state seeks to dismiss this claim on mootness grounds. Generally, an appeal is deemed moot if the issue becomes nonexistent or academic and, consequently, no longer involves a justifiable controversy.”

Keene was released from custody on Dec. 12, 2010.

He received a 25-year suspended sentence in 2000 after pleading guilty to criminal transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and was scheduled to reside at a residential facility. His sentence was officially discharged in December.

Keene was charged in October 1998 on allegations he had unprotected sex with a mentally ill woman who didn't know he had HIV. In April 2009, Keene applied for post-conviction relief in Dubuque County, asserting his conviction and sentence amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment.”

The district court found the punishment was not cruel or unusual, and the appellate court last week upheld that decision and dismissed his appeal.