Legal Question in Personal Injury in Virginia

Re: Subject

Probably not in Virginia. ROBERT A. TROTTER vs. JUDY B. OKAWA, ET AL. is the only case I can find on this issue in the Virginia Supreme Court.

The essential element you must show in order to recover damages from him is that fraud, coercion or duress was present. For you to have any chance of recovery he would have had to actively claim he had no venereal disease.

If it was a consensual act on your part the claim appears to be non-actionable.

Here's the pertinent language from the Trotter case, referring back to earlier cases.

"In Zysk, the plaintiff sought recovery in damages against her estranged husband, claiming that, before their marriage, he had knowingly infected her with a type of herpes virus. Citing Miller, this Court held that, since fornication is a criminal act under Code � 18.2-344, the plaintiff's voluntary participation in that act barred her tort action for damages resulting from her conduct."

"The Court explained that its ruling was based on the principle that "courts will not assist the participant in an illegal act who seeks to profit from the act's commission." Zysk, 239 Va. at 34, 404 S.E.2d at 722. The Court concluded that 'consent, freely given without fraud or duress, bars recovery' in such an action. Id. Thus, the Zysk decision expressly recognized that a plaintiff whose consent is obtained by duress is not subject to the general rule that consensual participation in an illegal or immoral act bars a participant from seeking monetary reward for injuries resulting from that act. Id."

Remember for future reference that if you engage in sexual intercourse with someone, you are more or less assuming the risk that such will occur. Be more careful in the future.