Feb 29, 2008 7:40 pm US/Eastern
Judge Unseals Bonds' Grand Jury Testimony
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS) ―
A federal judge on Friday unsealed Barry Bonds' grand jury testimony, making public what the home run king said under oath about his use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Bonds is charged with four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction for allegedly lying 19 different times during his December 2003 testimony to a grand jury investigating steroid use in professional sports.
The indictment, unsealed last November, cites snippets of testimony where Bonds denies ever ingesting steroids or human growth hormone, CBS station KPIX-TV in San Francisco reports. It quotes Bonds denying his personal trainer Greg Anderson ever injected him with steroids, which prosecutors allege is a lie.
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston also ordered federal prosecutors to fix Bonds' indictment so each of the five counts against him don't include multiple alleged false statements.
Bonds' defense argued that some of the counts contained as many as four or five alleged false statements and that it would be possible for a jury to convict him without agreeing which statements were false.
Illston ruled that the perjury counts lodged against Bonds were clearly "duplicitous," a legal term meaning two or more offenses were charged in a single count.
The judge agreed with Bonds' attorney Dennis Riordan that prosecutors must edit out many of the alleged lies or seek a new indictment, which could contain more charges.
The November indictment came just three months after the San Francisco Giants star broke Hank Aaron's career home run record, and it culminated a four-year investigation into steroid use by elite athletes.
While Bonds is technically no longer under indictment, the practical effect of the judge's ruling was to delay the case until prosecutors address the problems.
The judge ordered prosecutors to decide how they plan to proceed before Bonds' next court date on March 21. They declined comment outside court.
The judge allowed Bonds to skip the court hearing on Friday and excused him from attending the next court date.
Illston said she decided to order the unsealing of Bonds' testimony after Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Wilson told her during Friday's hearing that prosecutors contend Bonds' "entire testimony" before the grand jury was the obstruction of justice referred to in the indictment's fifth count.
The judge said it was therefore appropriate to unseal the full transcript.
Outside of court, another of Bonds' lawyers, Allen Ruby, said the defense was pleased with the unsealing.
Ruby told reporters, "The more light that shines on this is a good thing. You'll be able to make up your own minds."
During his grand jury appearance in 2003, prosecutors also presented Bonds with a drug test showing a positive steroids result for a player they called "Barry B." Bonds said he never before saw those results.
Investigators also said they seized other evidence, including an alleged "doping calendar" maintained by Anderson, who spent about a year in jail for refusing to help investigators.
Anderson, who was released after Bonds was indicted, is expected to be called to testify if Bonds' case goes to trial. Anderson maintains that he will refuse to testify if ordered, making it likely he would return to prison if the Bonds case does go to trial.
A trial date has not been set for the 43-year old Bonds, who played for the Giants from 1993 to 2007.
Bonds posted a new message on his Web site, but did not mention his criminal case.
"I have been getting a lot of e-mails asking what I've been up to this past offseason. This winter has been the first time in my career that I've had the chance to take time for myself and really enjoy the time off. While at home with my family I have been able to work out of my office concentrating on my various companies, attending meetings as well as making a few business trips," Bonds said the posting on barrybonds.com.
"I continue to work out and feel in great shape. Thank you again for your continued support for me and my family; it truly helps keep me strong."
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
