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 Bonds perjury trial

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PostSubject: Bonds perjury trial    Bonds perjury trial  Icon_minitimeWed Apr 13, 2011 10:13 pm

Bonds perjury trial set to begin today
By John Schlegel / MLB.com | 03/20/11 9:05 PM ET

Barry Bonds, baseball's all-time home runs leader, will be seated in the defendant's chair Monday at a federal courthouse in San Francisco as his long-awaited perjury trial begins, the culmination of an investigation of performance-enhancing drug use that has spanned nearly a decade.

The case, officially named USA v. Barry Bonds, will reach the trial stage with jury selection Monday, opening what would appear to be the final chapter in a case that has the seven-time National League Most Valuable Player facing four charges of perjury and one charge of obstruction of justice.

The trial, to be conducted at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, is expected to last 3-4 weeks. Federal prosecutors are prepared to call Bonds' former mistress and several former Major League players to testify, following months of legal wrangling about what will be admissible in the trial.

The case stems from Bonds' grand-jury testimony on Dec. 4, 2003, relating to the U.S. government's raid of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO), a firm that Bonds employed toward the latter part of his 22-year Major League career and an organization that is known to have produced performance-enhancing drugs used by several other prominent athletes.

The prosecution alleges that Bonds lied to the grand jury when asked if he was ever given or was administered anabolic steroids, testosterone or human growth hormone with needles by personal trainer Greg Anderson during the period from 2000 to 2002. Bonds denied knowingly using performance-enhancing substances.

Dozens of news organizations have applied to cover the trial, which was set in motion when Bonds was indicted in November 2007. He has pleaded not guilty.

Judge Susan Illston, who has presided over numerous cases surrounding the BALCO investigation, will hear the Bonds case, and she has ruled on dozens of motions relating to the slugger's prosecution over the last several months.

Throughout the pre-trial process, the prosecution, represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Parrella and Jeffrey Nedrow, and defense attorneys, led by Allen Ruby, have wrangled over a variety of issues, including the admissibility of testimony from players such as former All-Stars Jason Giambi and Benito Santiago, and the relevance of voicemails and other communication between Bonds and his mistress, Kimberly Bell.

Illston ruled recently that the jury would be seated anonymously, denying a motion by lawyers for media organizations seeking the names of the jurors during the trial process. The two sides have agreed to an 18-page questionnaire with 63 questions, including whether they have attended Giants games the last five years, whether they've heard about athletes abusing steroids and how much they use the Internet.

On Thursday, Illston ruled that angry voicemails Bonds left for his mistress of nine years could not be used in the trial. Prosecutors intended to include the voicemails to demonstrate Bonds was experiencing "steroid rage" when contacting Bell, but Illston said the communication between the two lovers had little relevance to proving Bonds lied when he denied knowingly taking steroids. Bell has told investigators that Bonds told her of his steroid use.

Earlier, Illston ruled that prosecutors can use the testimony of other baseball players, such as Giambi and Santiago, who worked with Anderson to support their position that the trainer supplied Bonds with the same drugs and instructions.

However, she has ruled that evidence pertaining to Anderson's relationship with Bonds is hearsay, due in large part to Anderson's refusal to testify at the trial. Anderson has served more than a year in prison for refusing to testify to the grand jury, and is subject to more jail time if he again refuses to testify at the perjury trial, as his attorney has steadfastly maintained he will.

Each count against Bonds carries a potential sentence of 10 years in prison, but federal sentencing guidelines for a first offense on these charges generally call for a total sentence of 15 to 21 months. Previous BALCO cases include world-class cyclist Tammy Thomas being sentenced to six months of house arrest and former track coach Trevor Graham to one year of house arrest for lying to the grand jury. BALCO founder Victor Conte served four months in prison and four months of house arrest for conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids and one felony count of money laundering.

Bonds, now 46, hit 762 home runs in his career, surpassing Hank Aaron's previous career record of 755 in 2007. A 14-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove winner whose seven MVP awards are a record, Bonds set the single-season mark for homers with 73 in 2001. He also stands as the all-time leader in walks with 2,558 and intentional walks with 688 and remains the only player to record 500 home runs and 500 stolen bases.

The son of three-time All-Star Bobby Bonds and the godson of Hall of Famer Willie Mays, Bonds played for the Pirates for seven seasons (1986-92) before signing as a free agent with his hometown Giants prior to the 1993 season, leading the National League with 46 homers and 123 RBIs that year to claim his third NL MVP honor. Bonds later won four consecutive MVP honors, from 2001-04.

John Schlegel is a national reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


Last edited by TigersForever on Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:18 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostSubject: Re: Bonds perjury trial    Bonds perjury trial  Icon_minitimeWed Apr 13, 2011 10:14 pm

Bonds on trial
Bonds guilty of obstruction of justice
Jury deliberates for third day
Jury reviews Hoskins' testimony
Case goes to jury for deliberations
Defense rests without calling a witness
Prosecution rests case in Bonds trial
Ruling on tape ahead as trial resumes
Juror illness puts trial on hold
Prosecution likely set to rest case
Witness: Trainer injected Bonds
Agents, lab techs testify
Giambis, Benard, Conte testify
Former mistress testifies in Bonds trial
Bonds trial heads into second week
Bonds trial wraps up first week
Childhood friend Hoskins takes stand
Trainer Anderson refuses to testify
Bonds' trial begins in San Francisco
Bonds perjury trial set to begin
Judge allows former players' testimony
The charges in USA vs. Bonds
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PostSubject: Re: Bonds perjury trial    Bonds perjury trial  Icon_minitimeWed Apr 13, 2011 10:17 pm

Bonds found guilty of obstruction of justice
Mistrial declared on three remaining perjury charges
By John Schlegel / MLB.com | 04/13/11 5:43 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO -- The jury deciding the federal perjury case against Barry Bonds found him guilty of obstruction of justice on Wednesday, but it could not come to a conclusion on the three counts of making false declarations regarding his 2003 testimony before the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) grand jury.

With that, Judge Susan Illston excused the jurors, and then declared a mistrial on the three charges that the jury couldn't decide upon. A sentencing date of May 20 was set by Illston.

Defense counsel moved for a directed verdict to dismiss the remaining charge or a new trial. The two sides will set a date to discuss that with Illston.

The eight women and four men who were impaneled March 22 in Illston's courtroom listened to 11 days of testimony and arguments before taking three days and four hours to come in with their split verdict on Bonds, the Major Leagues' all-time leader in home runs and a seven-time Most Valuable Player.

The outcome was made even more dramatic by a misunderstanding between the jury and the court. The jury informed the court early Wednesday afternoon that it had reached a verdict, but when court was called back in session there was confusion about what exactly they had concluded.

Illston called the two legal sides together to determine how to approach the situation. Defense attorney Allen Ruby and lead prosecutor Matthew Parrella agreed to send a note to the jury via Illston to determine exactly what the status of their deliberations was. Illston decided instead to bring the jury in the courtroom.

The confusion began when a juror informed the court clerk that they had reached a verdict, but when she asked them to return their notes -- they cannot keep them after the trial -- they said they still had issues to discuss, sending the conclusion of the trial into limbo.

Bonds originally was indicted on four charges of giving false testimony and one charge of obstruction of justice on Nov. 15, 2006. He pleaded not guilty on Dec. 7, 2006. A second indictment added 10 charges, but the third superseding indictment on Feb. 10 of this year was pared back down to four charges of making false declarations and one of obstruction of justice. One of the charges of making false statements was dropped prior to closing arguments during the trial.

The trial took place in the U.S. District Court, Northern California District, in Courtroom 10 of the Phillip Burton Federal Building.

On Monday, the jury asked that the testimony of former personal shopper Kathy Hoskins be re-read. Hoskins testified at trial to having witnessed Bonds receiving an injection from former trainer Greg Anderson, and a court employee read the entire testimony in open court.

On Friday, the first day of deliberations, the jury reheard a secretly taped recording Steve Hoskins, Bonds' childhood friend and former business manager, made of a conversation with Anderson in which they discussed injections of performance-enhancing drugs.

The prosecution, led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Parrella and Jeffrey Nedrow, called 25 witnesses to the stand, including active baseball player Jason Giambi and former players Jeremy Giambi, Marvin Benard and Randy Velarde. The witness list also included Steve Hoskins, Kathy Hoskins and Bonds' former mistress Kimberly Bell, along with a parade of drug-testing employees and experts. The prosecution was not able to compel Anderson to testify, however, so he was sent back to federal prison for contempt of court at the beginning of the trial, then released when the jury went into deliberations.

Bonds was charged with three counts of making false statements and one count of obstruction of justice based on his appearance before the BALCO grand jury, in which he denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs. One of what originally were four charges of making false statements was dropped prior to closing arguments.

The defense team, led by Ruby and Cristina Arguedas, did not present a single witness, only reading part of the testimony Bell gave the Bonds grand jury to demonstrate contradictions with her testimony at trial. They vigorously cross-examined Bell and Steve Hoskins, in particular, and argued in closing that the government's pursuit of Bonds was motivated by the fact that he wasn't intimidated by investigators at the grand jury.

Bonds, 46, hit 762 home runs in his career, surpassing Hank Aaron's previous career record of 755 in 2007. A 14-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove winner whose seven MVP awards are a record, Bonds set the single-season mark for homers with 73 in 2001. He also stands as the all-time leader in walks with 2,558 and intentional walks with 688 and remains the only player to record 500 home runs and 500 stolen bases.

The son of three-time All-Star Bobby Bonds and the godson of Hall of Famer Willie Mays, Bonds played for the Pirates for seven seasons (1986-92) before signing as a free agent with his hometown Giants prior to the 1993 season, leading the National League with 46 homers and 123 RBIs that year to claim his third NL MVP honor. Bonds later won four consecutive MVP awards, from 2001-04.

The Giants released the following statement after the verdict: "This case is ongoing and we expect it will proceed in a fair and orderly manner. Accordingly, we have no comment at this time."

John Schlegel is a national reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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