Background: Cleveland Brodie (far left) sits at the defense table during his bond hearing (WAGA); Inset: Brodie booking photo (Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office)
The bond hearing for a Georgia man accused of intentionally giving women the AIDS virus, including his late wife, got testy at times.
Cleveland Brodie, who is in his early 60s, sat at the defense table with his attorney on Monday as he waited to hear if he would face a higher bond amount. The state argued that bond should be denied for Brodie, and they brought several members of the family of his wife, Denise Brodie — who died two days after she was diagnosed with AIDS that her family believed was given to her by Cleveland Brodie — to give statements in court.
The defense attorney had several objections.
Local Fox affiliate WAGA was in the courtroom to capture the hearing where the state argued that Cleveland Brodie was a danger to the community. They wanted bond to be denied and had Denise Brodie’s daughter, Tammy Hammonds, deliver a statement in which she said that she and her family were “gravely concerned for the public’s safety.” She also accused Cleveland Brodie of exhibiting “reckless disregard for the health and safety of others by knowingly living with and allegedly exposing others to HIV without disclosure.”
The defense attorney objected, saying that the indictment brought against his client was not evidence. The judge allowed the statement to continue.
The next to speak at the hearing was a victim-witness advocate from the Rockdale County District Attorney’s Office, who read a statement from one of Cleveland Brodie’s alleged victims.
Again, the defense attorney objected, saying that evidence had to come from the actual witness or else whatever the advocate said was just hearsay. It was explained by the prosecutor that the witness, an alleged victim named in the indictment, did not want to speak publicly. Again, the judge allowed the statement to continue.
Finally, Denise Brodie’s brother, Jimmie Suber, took the stand and stated that Cleveland Brodie was “a danger to women.” Cleveland Brodie’s defense attorney objected, saying, “He does not know that.”
Several times, Cleveland Brodie’s defense attorney claimed that Denise Brodie did not die of AIDS, but of different health complications. The state argued that those complications were due to AIDS, which Denise Brodie was diagnosed with two days before she died. On the stand, Suber told the defense attorney, “She died of AIDS.”
After Suber concluded his statement requesting that Cleveland Brodie be denied bond, the defense attorney piped up and said, “I have some questions.” Suber responded, “I have answers.”
What followed was an argument about how Cleveland Brodie was allegedly not just careless about his HIV, he was also allegedly careless about other infectious viruses and would reportedly not wear a mask to protect his cancer-surviving wife from COVID-19. As the argument devolved, the defense attorney asked Suber, “Do you know if they had sex?”
Suber responded that yes, he knew, to which the defense attorney responded by asking, “You were there when they had sex?” Suber responded that Cleveland Brodie once told him that he and Denise Brodie had not had sex for over a year. He added, “They”[d] been married for how many years, sir?”
The judge then stopped the heated exchange to deliver her decision — she raised Cleveland Brodie’s bond to $800,000, ordered him to continue taking prescribed HIV medication and disallowed him from having any sexual relationships while awaiting trial.
Cleveland Brodie has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, including malice murder and felony murder.
