A woman who convinced a jury that a former sex partner infected her with genital herpes had the virus long before she met him, according to a Minnesota man who alleges he had a romantic relationship with Patricia Behr.

Ronald Ramsdell

“In 1989, Patricia Behr not only admitted she had herpes, she also gave it to me,” Ronald Ramsdell says in an affidavit which, if true, would require the reversal of the $6.7 million jury award Behr -- the mother of actor Jason Behr -- won against Tom Redmond in January.

Ramsdell, the founder of College Aid Consulting Services in Minneapolis, says he came forward as a witness after hearing about the award from a friend who knew Behr had given him herpes. “I believe that Patricia Behr 'set up' the defendant by falsely claiming that he gave her herpes, and that the jury did a great injustice,” the affidavit states.

Behr alleged that Redmond, the wealthy founder of a hair care products company, infected her with herpes after failing to tell her he had the virus before their first sexual encounter in October 2003. After they broke up, she tested positive in July 2004.

By a 9-3 vote, a Riverside County (Calif.) Superior Court jury in January found Redmond liable for negligent transmission of herpes and awarded Behr $4 million in compensatory damages for future medical expenses and pain and suffering, $2.75 million in punitive damages –- and a 2004 BMW.

Redmond has moved for a new trial and, in support of that motion, filed Ramsdell's affidavit earlier this week. “[T]here can be no more material evidence than that Thomas Redmond could not have infected Patricia Behr with herpes because she already had it,” defense attorney Robert M. Frisbee said in a brief.

Behr attorney Shaun M. Murphy called Ramsdell's testimony "false" and said he would be filing a response to the defense pleadings next week. "We have some serious issues with the person they're relying upon and the statements they're relying upon," he told On Point.

In the affidavit, Ramsdell says he began dating Behr in 1989 and moved into her Richfield, Minn., home. After noticing “some small white blisters in my groin and pubic area,” he confronted Behr, who initially denied having herpes.

When he suggested they both get tested, she “stopped arguing, said there was no need to have tests, and admitted that she did in fact have herpes.” She provided him with a prescription ointment which “helped heal the blisters.”

Ramsdell says he didn't see a doctor about the blisters because he had no medical insurance at the time, but "came to the belief that they were genital herpes." Nowhere in the affidavit does he state that he was actually diagnosed with herpes.

Both plaintiff's and defense medical experts agreed during the trial that Behr's medical records from 1999 up to 2003 contained no reference to herpes symptoms or diagnoses. Asked to explain the conflict with Ramsdell's testimony, Frisbee told On Point that Behr “had moved to Palm Springs from Minneapolis, where all her old records were, and most people [with herpes] have fewer and fewer outbreaks as time goes on.”

“An effective test for HSVII (genital herpes) wasn't available until 2005,” he added.

In a brief opposing the new trial motion, Murphy has argued that “The entire record in this case contains more than enough evidence to justify the jury's finding that Redmond was negligent.”

“The undisputed testimony was that Behr was not infected before she met Redmond,” he said.

According to his company's website, Ramsdell has assisted "thousands of families in achieving their goal of post-secondary education while reducing their out-of-pocket expenses" and has "frequently appeared on television and radio talk shows to educate listeners on pragmatic approaches to obtain maximum Financial Aid benefits."

By Matthew Heller
3/12/09