The government’s perjury case against home run king Barry Bonds
has shrunk on the eve of trial. In a new indictment unveiled
Thursday, federal prosecutors reduced the overall number of charges
against Bonds from 11 to five
— slashing six counts of making false statements to a federal
grand jury in December 2003 about using steroids as he chased
baseball’s all-time home run records.
SAN JOSE
The government’s perjury case against home run king Barry Bonds has shrunk on the eve of trial.
In a new indictment unveiled Thursday, federal prosecutors reduced the overall number of charges against Bonds from 11 to five — slashing six counts of making false statements to a federal grand jury in December 2003 about using steroids as he chased baseball’s all-time home run records.
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The latest indictment now charges Bonds with four counts of lying to the grand jury, and one count of obstructing justice. The former San Francisco Giants slugger is scheduled to go on trial on March 21.
Prosecutors indicated at a recent hearing that they planned to seek a new indictment to clean up legal issues with the obstruction charge, but the slimmed down case against Bonds was unexpected. The charges narrow the scope of the allegations against Bonds, who has pleaded not guilty and denied knowingly using performance enhancing drugs.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Parrella, the lead prosecutor, declined comment.
Allen Ruby, Bonds’ lead attorney, had little say about the development, other than, “We’re all interested to see what they have in mind next.”
From a practical standpoint, Bonds’, if convicted, would likely face a similar sentence regardless of the number of counts in the indictment. But the prosecution’s case has been in retreat the past few years, as a federal judge excluded key evidence in the trial, including drug tests from 2000 and 2001 purporting to show Bonds tested positive for steroids.
The new indictment removes many references to dates in which Bonds was allegedly linked to steroid use through BALCO, the now-defunct Peninsula laboratory at the heart of the largest doping scandal in sports history. Prosecutors had previously hoped to show such specific dates through BALCO’S drug logs, which included references to “BB” and other Bonds indicators. But those logs have likewise been excluded from trial.
Nevertheless, the new indictment includes the crux of the government’s central allegation: that Bonds lied when repeatedly asked about steroid use, and whether he was supplied with performance enhancing drugs by his former personal trainer, Greg Anderson.
— Story by Howard Mintz, San Jose Mercury News
