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SAN FRANCISCO — Barry Bonds, the former outfielder who hit more career home runs than anyone else in baseball history, was convicted Wednesday of a single count of obstruction of justice, but a federal jury here could not reach a verdict on the question of whether Bonds had lied about never knowingly using steroids during his career.
the jury agreed that Bonds had misled or impeded a 2003 grand jury hearing evidence about steroid use by elite athletes
At first it may seem an unsatisfactory verdict, but I think that the jury wound up doing a good job. What this limited finding by them says in essence is..."We beleive that Bonds used steroids and lied about it to the grand jury, but the case was weakly presented by the government which didn't give us enough for a firm conviction."
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The foreman of the jury, who would only give his first name, Fred, said if prosecutors want to “pursue this case, they’re going to have to do more homework than they did.”
So instead, not wanting Bonds to appear exonerated because of the prosecution's poor performance, they nailed him for his general evasiveness while testifying before the grand jury. If you read a transcript of Bonds' testimony, it jumps right out at you. It is absolute torture for the prosecutor to get any sort of straight, responsvive answer from Bonds. On nearly every question, he talks in circles, changes the subject, or tries to dismiss questions entirely. He was indeed doing exactly that for which the jury convicted him, obstructing the investigation.
But......the focus of the jury seems puzzling:
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The obstruction of justice count was a complicated charge that asked jurors to decide if Bonds was being evasive when making any one of seven statements to the grand jury. He was convicted on a single statement about his childhood as the son of major leaguer Bobby Bonds and his relationship with personal trainer Greg Anderson—it did not address performance-enhancing drugs.
If there isn't obvious linkage between that particular statement and intention on Bonds part to mislead the prosecutors, it is possible that the judge might set the verdict aside.
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Bonds faces a possible sentence of 10 years in federal prison, although he is not expected to receive anywhere near that length of prison time, if any.
Unless this judge has some special political or personal need to appear tough and unimpressed by celebrity athletes, I'd guess that no prison time will be involved, or if so, a few months at some minimum security facility at worst. If there is a heavy public sentiment for incarcerating Bonds, I am unaware of it. What the public wants from Bonds is the same thing it always wanted from Pete Rose, honesty and candor, an admission of guilt and regret.
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Each count Bonds was tried on carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. However, federal guidelines suggest a total sentence of 15 to 21 months. For similar offenses in the BALCO case, Illston sentenced cyclist Tammy Thomas to six months of home confinement and track coach Trevor Graham to one year of home confinement.
I have no interest in sports. I don't pay any attention to them whatsoever, so I need help understanding why something like this goes before a judge and jury. Why isn't this matter dealt with by a "sports authority," say, a jury of sports officials (specifically baseball in this case)? If steroids are a controlled substance, then that part should be handled by the law, and/or medical and substance abuse professionals.
Again, I must be missing something, so please help me understand.
The charge of obstruction of justice "for being evasive" will most likely be thrown out by the judge. It is an untenable position for the legal system. To answer the poster who asked why this went to a jury trial the NY Times article had several comments which suggested that the ego of the prosecutors were the determining factor in the pursuit of Barry Bonds. I feel that it was that and a witches brew of hatred, racism (the uppity black man) and the medias preoccupation with the soap opera that followed.
Barry Bonds has never tested positive for steroids. Those are the facts and they are not in dispute.
Fac it, this was a waste of tax payer dollars. He was obviously going to be found guilty of a lesser crime and will do no jail time. All this did was tarnish his image a little. What a waste.
I have no interest in sports. I don't pay any attention to them whatsoever, so I need help understanding why something like this goes before a judge and jury. Why isn't this matter dealt with by a "sports authority," say, a jury of sports officials (specifically baseball in this case)? If steroids are a controlled substance, then that part should be handled by the law, and/or medical and substance abuse professionals.
Again, I must be missing something, so please help me understand.
Thank you.
What was before a jury was not the question of whether or not Bonds used steroids, it was whether or not Bonds lied to Federal investigators and the grand jury.
This did not start out as any sort of "Let's get Barry Bonds" witch hunt, it began as an investigation into the illegal trafficking in controlled substances by Balco Labs and its employees. Bonds' name appeared with frequency in the records discovered in the raid. The prosecutors approached Bonds, asked for his voluntary cooperation in the investigation, and when that was not given, they used the subpoena route to force him to appear.
Bonds was under no threat of criminal indictment at this time. He was granted immunity from prosecution for any crimes he may have been guilty of associated with his relationship with Balco Labs and Greg Anderson. All the prosecutors wanted from him was information to help their case, they had no interest in pursuing Barry Bonds.
Bonds generated that interest by not cooperating with the investigation. Instead he took the stand and indulged in perjury and evasiveness.
That....that is what got the Feds angry with Bonds. They didn't give a ding dang damn about Bonds or any PEDs aided homerun records, but they did give a damn about Bonds lying to them and impeding the investigation.
Was their reaction out of the ordinary?
Yes and no.
The reason for this is that Barry Bonds was not an ordinary witness. He was a high profile witness and if he was allowed to get away with his refusal to cooperate, and away with his arrogance in thnking that he could lie to them with no consequences to himself, then the whole nation would see the toothlessness of the Feds.
That was why they prosecuted despite the non critical nature of the crime. They were trying to maintain the integrity of grand jury investigations. Had Bonds been some nobody who lied in the Balco case, the decision to prosecute would have rested on pragmatic grounds...is it worth the time and effort to go after this person? Because Bonds was high profile and the focus of national attention, the Feds felt that they had to set an example.
So the original investigation was actually about the lab producing the steroids, and since Bonds name was involved, and he wouldn't cooperate, he basically put himself into the position of being questioned, and lied under oath, which is what got him in trouble, yes?
As I said, I pay no attention to sports, so I had no idea what the whole uproar was about, and why it went to a jury. It seemed to me that a simple breaking of the rules should have been handled by the larger baseball organization (is there even such a thing?). I think I get it now.
So the original investigation was actually about the lab producing the steroids, and since Bonds name was involved, and he wouldn't cooperate, he basically put himself into the position of being questioned, and lied under oath, which is what got him in trouble, yes?
.
As the Duke was fond of saying....That's about the size of it.
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