Barry Bonds' Miscarriage of Justice

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright April 14, 2011
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              Wasting about $50 million  prosecuting former San Francisco Giant slugger Barry Bonds for perjury and obstruction of justice, a U.S. District Court jury  deadlocked on three perjury counts, convicting the 46-year-old Major League Baseball homerun king on a single count of obstruction of justice.  While most people think Bonds was guilty of lying about his steroid use in 2003 to a San Francisco grand jury, a jury of his peers rejected the government’s perjury case against MLB’s single-season and career homerun leader.  “The counts which alleged steroids, which alleged needles, which alleged human growth hormone, those were mistried,” said Bonds’ chief defense counsel Allen Ruby.  “There was no conviction, no verdict, no finding adverse to Barry Bonds,” leaving logical observers scratching their heads.  Bonds’ was convicted of a single count of obstructing justice.

            Jurors believed that Bonds’ statements to the 2003 San Francisco grand jury were deliberately misleading, despite the jury’s inability to find him guilty on any perjury charge.  Since obstruction of justice involves lying, it’s difficult to conclude that Bonds deliberately misled the grand jury.  U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston declared a mistrial on three perjury counts.  Once the jury hung on the three primary perjury charges, it’s difficult to explain how jury convicted MLB’s homerun king of obstruction of justice.  Reading back grand jury testimony, jurors concluded, without merit, that Bonds’ deliberately misled the jury.  Anyone reviewing the grand jury transcript knows that Bonds was inarticulate and rambling, not necessarily deceptive.  How the jury convicted Bonds’ of obstruction of justice without getting perjury convictions is anyone’s guess.

            When the government put Bonds’ former mistress Kimberly Bell on the stand as their star witness, the case unraveled.  Bell’s painfully inappropriate testimony about Bonds’ shrunken anatomy and failed sexual performance went over the top.  No jury could possibly trust the government’s case built on gossip about Bonds’ sexual appearance and performance.  U.S. Attorney in San Francisco Melinda Haag hyped the government’s case.  “This case is about upholding on the most fundamental principles in our system of justice—the obligation of every witness to provide truthful and direct testimony in judicial proceedings,” said Haag, taking Bonds’ case completely out of context.  Bonds denied knowingly using steroids to protect his homerun legacy.  Former Oakland Athletic outfielder Jose Canseco blew the cover off MLB’s steroid scandal publish his book “Juiced” in 2005.

            On the single obstruction of justice count, Bond was originally asked in the grand jury whether or not his trainer Greg Anderson ever injected him with any known substance.  “Did Greg ever give you anything that required a syringe to inject yourself with?”  Bond’s rambling answer essentially tried to tell jurors he was loyal to his friends and wouldn’t rat them out.  “That’s what keeps our friendship.  You know.  I am sorry, but that—you know, that—I was a celebrity child, not just baseball by my own instincts . . . “ said Bonds, not, as prosecutors claimed to evade answering but to try to explain his convoluted logic.  “The full grand jury testimony was a series of evasive answers,” said 60-year-old juror named Steve.  Surely, whatever the jury instructions, inarticulate responses don’t constitute obstruction of justice. Without the perjury convictions, it’s illogical to convict Bonds of obstructing justice.

            Judge Illston and lead prosecutor Melinda Haag know that obstruction almost always involves instructing or coercing someone to lie to investigators or a grand jury.  If Bonds didn’t articulate himself in the 2003 grand jury, it was up to the grand jury to seek clarification.  Bonds lead defense attorney has a good shot of getting the single conviction overturned because of faulty jury instructions.  Frustrated with the failure to get perjury convictions, U.S. Attorney Matthew Parrella asked for a sentencing date on the lone obstruction of justice conviction.  Given the government’s poor witnesses, including Bonds’ ex-mistress Kimberly Bell and his personal shopper Kathy Hoskins, it’s unlikely the government will retry the case.  They know that the obstruction charge may not hold up under appeal.  Bond’s attorney Allen Ruby could request to retry the obstruction charge.

            Government prosecutors have wasted too much time and money going after Bonds for his denials about using steroids.  After exposing Major League Baseballs’ steroid scandal in 2005 in his book “Juiced,” former Oakland Athletic outfielder Jose Canseco estimated that around 80% of ballplayers used steroids during Bonds’ playing  career, including Canseco’s former Oakland A teammate Mark McGwire, who broke Roger Maris’ 37-year-old single season homerun record Sept. 8, 1998 while playing outfield for the St. Louis Cardinals.  While McGwire flat-out refused to answer questions about his steroid use, Bonds made the mistake of telling a grand jury he did not “knowingly” use them.  Prosecuting Bonds, while giving McGwire and numerous other steroid-using ballplayers a pass, shows the kind of selective prosecution that smacks of scapegoating, possibly racism.

Abouut the Author

 John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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