If Barry Bonds’ defense attorneys aren’t breathlessly
anticipating next week’s felony trial, the defendant certainly
should be. If government prosecutors aren’t counting down the hours
until the judge enters the courtroom, government accountants ought
to be. So should anyone concerned with federal spending.
OAKLAND
If Barry Bonds’ defense attorneys aren’t breathlessly anticipating next week’s felony trial, the defendant certainly should be.
If government prosecutors aren’t counting down the hours until the judge enters the courtroom, government accountants ought to be.
So should anyone concerned with federal spending.
We’re five days away from finally raising the curtain on one of government’s pet projects. Bonds, 46, is a high-profile former athlete facing four counts of lying to a grand jury and one count of obstruction of justice — ostensibly to conceal that he used banned and illegal steroids in baseball.
The trial scheduled to go before U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston on Monday is a costly and elaborate production, nearly eight years in the making, with a broad cast of characters, including a parade of athletes and ex-athletes — and at least one ex-girlfriend.
More to the point, the multiple investigations and indictments of Bonds have been a drain on government resources and taxpayer dollars, costing untold millions at a time when federal money is supposed to be at a premium.
Bonds’ legal bills reportedly have exceeded $3 million and may approach $5 mil. Even as the public questions how he earned it, that’s his money to spend as he sees fit. Good attorneys are expensive, but losing in court is devastating. It could demolish the uneasy foundation of Bonds’ legacy.
I get what Barry is doing. Though he pretends not to care about public opinion, he most assuredly does. Of considerably greater importance, though, is saving his backside.
The prosecution, however, is another matter. What’s the goal? What would be a satisfying conclusion for those who have pushed this case along?
What on earth could make this all worth the massive investments of time and money?
Is this a move to “clean up” baseball, the great American pastime? Can’t be.
Since the dawn of this case in 2003, the kings of the sport have taken measured strides to police the game. They’re trying, sort of, even as we realize cheating always will exist, on some level, as long as such life-altering revenue is at stake.
Is this about protecting Henry Aaron, the man whose career home run record fell to Bonds in 2007? Well, no. The feds aren’t out to preserve the sanctity of Aaron’s homers.
As for Aaron, he’s above this mess, uninterested in the trial, which suggests he knows his legacy is secure and that Bonds is widely perceived as being tainted. That’s enough for a 77-year-old man with no desire to be vindictive.
OK, maybe this is about saving the children. Uh-huh. Sure. The driving reason behind chasing a famously prickly sports cheater for nearly a decade, while ignoring hundreds of others, is to spare America’s youth the dangers and indignities that come with abusing performance-enhancing drugs.
Do you buy this? Didn’t think so.
Perhaps, then, this is another skirmish in the, um, War on Drugs, the ongoing fool’s errand during which thousands of authorities chase their toes for a paycheck.
No matter how many objective voices point out the fundamentally misguided concept of this so-called war, or that it can’t be “won,” the funding continues, the prison population increases and illegal drugs remain as much a part of our society as McDonald’s and aging bridges and Wall Street corruption.
Convicting Bonds would have no effect on that.
Rather, a conviction of Bonds could leave the retired ballplayer facing 15 to 21 months in prison, according to federal sentencing guidelines. Yet even that’s not likely. House arrest is more probable, based on precedent.
When cyclist Tammy Thomas was convicted of perjury under similar circumstances, she received six months under house arrest. In another case, the infamous track coach Trevor Graham — who tutored Marion Jones — received one year under house arrest.
Let’s presume Bonds wouldn’t mind house arrest, or having the feds dictate which of his homes he’d be confined to. He’s most comfortable away from the public.
The Bonds/BALCO chase has thus far resulted in 11 people being charged, receiving a combined 48 months behind bars. Nearly a third of that time was served by Greg Anderson, the former Bonds trainer whose unswerving loyalty has the feds constantly reconsidering and reloading.
Yet the tab continues to run on the federal spending involved in the prosecution of Bonds. No end to the spending is in sight. The tab runs while schools are closing, while cops and firefighters are laid off, while President Obama submits a budget slicing funds that provide heat for the homes of the poor and elderly.
Everybody, it seems, is sacrificing. And for a noble cause.
Well, almost everybody.
— Column by Monte Poole, The Oakland Tribune
