Saturday, October 02, 1999
No retrial for man who fled with girl
BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FRANKFORT — Appeals court judges denied a new trial for an AIDS-infected man who said it wasn't fair that a prosecutor called him a pervert even though he ran away with a teen-age girl.
Ricky Lynn Dozier appealed his 1998 conviction on custodial interference and bail jumping, saying inflammatory information about his illness should not have been allowed into evidence. He also objected to Commonwealth Attorney Willie Mathis' description of him.
Among the prosecutor's comments: “Dozier is every parent's worst nightmare,” “You might as well point a loaded gun at someone as to have sex with someone with AIDS,” and “He's as much a pervert as a man who would take a child out of first grade and sexually abuse him.”
In a ruling released Friday, the Kentucky Court of Appeals rejected Mr. Dozier's request for a new trial. The Boone Circuit Court did not make errors, the justices said. Their opinion did say, however, that it “certainly would have been better” if the prosecution had not made some of the comments.
Mr. Dozier, 32, of Florence, is serving a 15-year prison sentence — probably a life sentence, considering his illness, his lawyer said.
He and the girl, who was 16 at the time, ran away to Florida in 1997 but were later found and returned to Northern Kentucky. For that, Mr. Dozier was indicted in June 1997. The girl had been his children's baby sitter.
After the indictment, the two disappeared again in spite of a court order intended to keep them away from each other. Again, they were found in Florida. Additional charges were added after the second trip.
The young woman tested negative for HIV, was returned to the custody of her mother and went into drug treatment.
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