NATCHEZ &045; All charges against Natchez resident Sean White, accused of knowingly spreading the HIV virus, were dropped Tuesday.

White was set to go to trial on Nov. 22 on a murder charge for the death of a woman with whom he allegedly had unprotected sex.

The state’s motion to drop the charges states that based on the results of recent forensic evidence, the state cannot proceed with prosecution.

District Attorney Ronnie Harper said he didn’t think the evidence against White would be strong enough to hold up in court.

&uot;It was a very difficult case anyway,&uot; Harper said. &uot;The evidence we were attempting to obtain through scientific testing we’d hoped would reinforce our case, but based on the results, it did not reinforce it. It weakened the case.&uot;

White, 34, 1-D Lincoln Ave., originally was indicted by the grand jury on two counts of aggravated assault in June 2003 for infecting two women ages 18 and 26. Several months later one of the women died, elevating one of the charges to murder.

White was suspected of infecting other women, but those women refused to testify in the case, Harper said.

White has been out on bond for some time and faces no other charges.

At the time of the murder charge an Ole Miss law professor said the case would likely be a precedent for Mississippi. At that time similar cases had only been heard in Canada, Texas, Illinois and Maryland.

The murder charge fell under part 1b of the statute for homicide and murder. The statute defines murder as an act &uot;eminently dangerous to others&uot; and one &uot;without any premeditated design to effect the death of any particular individual.&uot;

The DA’s office would have had to prove that White did in fact have unprotected sex with the deceased woman.