Apr 13, 2011
Barry Bonds found guilty of obstruction of justice
05:30 PM
A mistrial was declared on the three perjury counts, and the jury was released.
Bonds sat impassively as the verdict was read.
While the jury was divided on the three charges that Bonds lied when he told a grand jury in 2003 that he had never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs, the guilty verdict for obstructing the federal investigation of the BALCO case makes him a convicted felon.
A May 20 date was set for a status hearing, at which time a sentencing date will probably be set. Obstruction of justice carries up to 10 years in prison. However, Bonds is most likely to get probation.
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Bonds became the latest and most prominent sports figure convicted in a case that began when federal agents raided the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative in September 2003. Previous to him, Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones, Olympic cyclist Tammy Thomas, NFL lineman Dana Stubblefield and track coach Trevor Graham were convicted of making false statements to a grand jury or federal authorities.
This time, the jury returned a conviction only on obstruction of justice, in which the government must prove the defendant, obstructed, influenced or impeded by knowingly giving testimony that was intentionally evasive, false or misleading.
But the jury deadlocked on the three perjury counts:
- Count 1 ? lying about getting steroids from former trainer Greg Anderson: 9-3 not guilty
- Count 2: Lying about only getting injected by a doctor: 11-1 guilty
- Count 3: Lying about getting HGH from Anderson: 8-4 not guilty
Bonds, 46, has not played since 2007, when he broke Hank Aaron's all-time home run record, but was indicted six weeks after the season ended. He has not officially retired, but when asked at his attorney's news conference if he would come back, Bonds said, "I can't play baseball anymore." When a fan yelled if Bonds would be celebrating tonight, he said, "There's nothing to celebrate."
The verdict likely will have some impact on his chances to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The seven-time NL MVP is eligible to go on the ballot after the 2012 season and would be a shoo-in except for his strong link to steroid use.
In recent years, voters have turned their back on candidates like Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro, whose Hall-worthy track records were tarnished by steroids connections.
BALCO founder Victor Conte said in a telephone interview with USA TODAY that he was flabbergasted by the verdict.
"This verdict absolutely makes no sense to me," he said, minutes after the verdict was announced. "Of all of these counts, the one that makes the least sense to me is the obstruction charge. Tell me how there was obstruction of justice.
"This is all about the selected persecution of Barry Bonds. This is not fair. I was the heavy in this. I accepted full responsibility and the consequences and went to prison. How is that obstruction? Doesn't make sense.
"The whole idea of committing perjury, and lying to the grand jury makes no sense. In my opinion, the overall majority of the athletes who testified in the BALCO case committed perjury. There were the things that the majority of the athletes said that simply were not true.''
A group of jurors met with the news media after the verdict, giving only their first names. One of the jurors, Steve, said the obstruction charge was relatively obvious to the group.
"The whole grand jury testimony was a series of evasive answers," he said. "There were pointed questions that were asked two or three or four different ways that never got clearly answered. That's how we came to that.''
The prosecution portrayed Bonds as having built at least part of his baseball legacy through rampant use of performance-enhancing substances and then lying about it to protect his reputation.
"He had a secret, and it was a powerful secret,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Nedrow said in his closing argument. "That secret is using those illegal drugs was part of his training regimen. ? He had a concern (that word getting out) would taint whatever athletic accomplishments he had managed to achieve during his career.''
Legal analysts believed the government's best chance for conviction was based on the testimony of Kathy Hoskins, Bonds' former personal shopper, who said she saw him get injected by weight trainer Greg Anderson during the 2002 season. Bonds had told the grand jury only doctors had injected him.
During deliberations, the jury asked to hear her testimony read again. In it, Hoskins quoted Bonds as saying after receiving the shot she saw from Anderson, "Got to have a little somethin', somethin' for when I go on the road. You can't detect it. You can't catch it.''
The government also presented testimony from four major leaguers, three now retired, who obtained steroids from Anderson, and evidence that a urine sample taken from Bonds in 2003 tested positive for synthetic testosterone, the designer steroid THG and the female fertility drug clomiphene.
Prosecutor Matthew Parrella pointed out the defense never argued that Bonds had not used steroids, while Bonds' lawyers argued that he did so unknowingly.
Bonds, who did not take the stand at his trial, told the grand jury he got the BALCO drugs known as "the clear'' (THG) and "the cream'' (a mix of testosterone and epitestosterone) from Anderson, but that he thought they were flaxseed oil and arthritis balm.
In an effort to prove otherwise, prosecutors called on witnesses such as Kimberly Bell, the former girlfriend who said Bonds told her of his steroid use around 1999. Bell also testified about his physical and personality changes, purportedly as a result of abusing steroids.
The government also presented a tape recording of Anderson talking about his strategy for injecting Bonds with steroids. However, the credibility of Steve Hoskins, the former Bonds business associate who secretly recorded the tape, was brought into question at cross-examination and also by the testimony of orthopedic surgeon Arthur Ting, who operated on the former San Francisco Giants icon. Ting denied talking to Hoskins about Bonds' use of steroids.
Despite being Steve Hoskins' sister, Kathy Hoskins came across as credible and upset about having to testify in the trial, tearfully saying "I was put in the middle of it.''
Steve, the juror, said she nearly pushed the group into a conviction on Count 2.
"On that vote, there were 11 who said they believed her, and there was one person who said they didn't. So we were very, very close on that one. Regarding Kathy, as all the jurors talked amongst each other, she really was the most credible. She was the most heartfelt in the jurors' box. I really believe she felt she was thrown under the bus by her brother and she didn't want to be there.''
Another juror, Nyiesha, was the lone holdout on that count.
"Kathy was very consistent a lot of times. However, she had a lot of relations with Stevie because that's her brother. So you could go with her, you could not go with her, just based on the fact she had a bond with her brother.
"The evidence that he did steroids might have been there, but did he knowingly use steroids? That's the question. We couldn't prove that beyond a reasonable doubt. There was just a piece of the puzzle missing.''
Today's outcome will surely help frame Bonds' legacy, although much of the salacious testimony at the trial had come to light already.
"Well, the legal technicalities aside, is there any real reasonable doubt that Barry Bonds used steroids?" longtime baseball broadcaster Bob Costas said after the verdict. "Used them in copious quantities. And a man as intelligent and aware as Barry Bonds, as meticulous about every aspect of his training and nutrition, didn't know exactly what was being administered to him, not knowing exactly what was happening every step along the way. What planet do you have to be on?
"I think it would have been excessive for Barry Bonds to go to jail. It's also absurd for people to talk about morality. Hundreds and hundreds of guys used steroids in that era.''
Contributing: Bob Nightengale
See photos of: Barry Bonds
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