Barry Bonds Convicted of Obstruction of Justice

[JamesG]

Barry Bonds Convicted of Obstruction of Justice
Apr 13, 2011
by Kate Stanhope


Former Major League baseball player Barry Bonds was convicted on one count of obstruction of justice in a San Francisco court Wednesday, CNN reports.

The verdict shows that jurors believe that in December 2003, Bonds, 46, lied in his testimony to a grand jury, claiming that his trainer never injected him with a needle.

A mistrial, however, was declared on an additional three counts of perjury after the jurors were unable to agree if he lied about knowingly using steroids.


Attorneys will meet in court on May 20 to decide whether a retrial will be required for the perjury counts and to set a date for sentencing.









Bonds' charges date back to 2003 when he was subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury investigating the distribution of performance-enhancing drugs to athletes.

The investigation was centered on the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (also known as BALCO). At the time, Bonds was told he was not a target of the inquiry, but his personal trainer, Greg Anderson, was a target.

Bonds' urine tested positive for anabolic steroids in the summer of 2003, just months before he testified. However, his grand jury statement only pertained to the time before the 2003 season and he had tested negative for the drugs weeks earlier.








Fellow Major League baseball players Jason Giambi, Jeremy Giambi and Marvin Benard all testified in the trial that they had received performance-enhancing drugs from, Anderson.

Bonds was indicted in November 2007 and subsequently left baseball, although he never officially retired. His 21-year career included tenures at the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Francisco Giants.

He broke the record for most home runs in a single season back in 2001, with 73, and broke Hank Aaron's home run record in 2007 shortly before he was indicted.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Barry-Bo...d-1031820.aspx