More than a year after it began, the court-martial of the first member of the military to face prosecution on AIDS-related charges moves to its trial phase Tuesday. Pvt. Adrian G. Morris Jr., 28, of Caseyville, Ill., is accused of having threatened the health of three soldiers by failing to use condoms during sexual relations and by failing to warn them he had tested positive for exposure to the AIDS virus. Morris has pleaded innocent to three counts of aggravated assault, three counts of conduct bringing discredit upon the Army and one count of sodomy. He has chosen to stand trial at Fort Huachuca in southern Arizona before a sole military judge, rather than in front of a jury panel. Morris could be sentenced to up to 17 years in prison, dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances if convicted. He allegedly had sexual relations with one male and two female soldiers. One of the women, his fiancee at the time, Spec. 4 Patricia C. Pruitt, gave birth last year to a child allegedly fathered by Morris. A hearing had been scheduled Monday on one remaining pretrial motion, but the judge, Col. Raymond D. Cole, decided instead to hold that hearing Tuesday before the trial starts. That motion involves a prosecution effort to have Cole reverse himself on a ruling in May that would require one of Morris' alleged victims, known only as Jane Doe, to identify herself publicly when she testifies. ``She's requested anonymity and we feel a certain obligation to do everything we can to protect her,'' Col. Harry Beans, staff judge advocate at Fort Huachuca, said Monday. ``She came forward and we feel uncomfortable about the prospects of having to reveal her identity publicly since we don't feel it will add anything to the case.'' Court-martial proceedings began more than a year ago but were adjourned indefinitely Aug. 5 to allow appeal of a ruling that prohibited the Army from using Morris' AIDS blood test results. According to the Army's charges, Morris was routinely tested for AIDS in April 1986 after he reported to duty as a clerk at Fort Huachuca, and was told that the results were positive for exposure to the HIV virus. A midlevel military appellate court reversed Cole last fall, and in March the United States Court of Military Appeals, the highest military court, let that ruling stand. This spring, Morris was demoted from private first class, reportedly for use of marijuana, although officials have refused to disclose the reason for the demotion. Also in the spring, sources said, Morris offered through his lawyers to accept an administrative severance from the Army with a general discharge under honorable conditions. The Army refused. Since court-martial proceedings began against Morris, several other military members have been charged, have entered pleas or have been convicted of AIDS-related charges. They include a soldier at Fort Hood, Texas, who pleaded guilty to charges including disobeying an officer; another at Fort Sill, Okla., who pleaded guilty to aggravated assault; an airman at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, who was convicted of aggravated assault; and a Navy officer acquitted of assault and adultery in a San Francisco case. The Army and Air Force have instituted regulations ordering commanding officers to inform any soldier or airman testing positive for exposure to the AIDS virus that failure to inform all sex partners of the test results and to practice safe sex will bring discharge or prosecution. The Navy instituted a similar legal advisory policy, but it apparently does not require commanding officers to issue a warning, according to a spokesman.
