Charlie Sheen expected to reveal his HIV secret

The actor will reportedly reveal whether he is HIV positive or not, in an interview with Matt Lauer

Actor Charlie Sheen will reportedly reveal his HIV secret in an interview with Matt Lauer on Today.

"The interview could open up a lot of sympathy for him, but he has to be concerned about litigation from former sexual partners," Howard Bragman, a Hollywood publicist and crisis manager, told people.com.

"You don't take that lightly," he added.

However, the question is when Sheen learnt he has HIV and whether any of his former partners are at risk.

In California, it's illegal to intentionally pass on a sexually transmitted disease - so the state would have to prove Sheen desired to "use HIV as a weapon", says Scott Burris, the director of the Center for Health Law, Policy and Practice at Temple University's Beasley School of Law. Burris is not aware of a single case in which that was proven.

"California has one of the narrowest laws. It's unlikely that he intended to infect anybody," Burris said.

"But who knows where he had sex, and there are states with different laws, and in some of them, it's enough to expose someone to fluids. In fact, in some states you can be charged even if you used a condom," Burris added.