On April 13, a U.S. District judge declared a mistrial on three federal perjury charges against baseball slugger Barry Bonds because the jury could not come to a unanimous verdict.
On Thursday, anther U.S. District judge declared a mistrial in legendary pitcher Roger Clemens’ federal perjury case because the prosecution showed the jurors inadmissable evidence.
Who will be the next big-name athlete to make the feds blow a case, cycling Lance Armstrong? The government’s pursuit of taking down suspected steroid-using using athletes isn’t going too well and it’s wasting a lot of money.
Perjury trials shouldn’t be taken lightly. There’s no diminishing that lying under oath to the federal government is one of the most heinous of victimless crimes.
That said, the government is looking bad in its pursuit of catching athletes in using performance-enhancing drugs. The Feds probably felt they were gaining momentum when they got track athlete Marion Jones to admit she lied on the stand. Subsequently, ballplayers Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi reportedly admitted steroid use.
But Bonds was a stickier case. He never admitted to “knowingly” using steroids and the government spent millions of dollars only to get him a measly felony charge of obstructing justice.
Clemens case, though, had the Feds thumping their chests. Lawyers proudly said before this week’s trial they had Clemens’ DNA on needles and this would be an easy case to win. From this viewpoint, it seemed as if Clemens was lying. There seemed to be too much evidence and testimony for him to be so cocky.
That was before the prosecution did some dumb things. That includes leaving an affidavit by Andy Pettite’s wife on a big screen during discussion with the judge, a document that the judge had forbidden to be introduced before the trial. That was after some video testimony that also was banned showed on the screen as well.
Case closed thanks to dumb mistakes by the Feds. Clemens will probably skate because of double jeopardy. It’s doubtful, though, he’ll get a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame in a few years because he already guilty in the court of public opinion.
Sheesh. Listen to the judge’s instructions. Isn’t that something you remember before you take the LSAT exam? The result is even more wasted money by the government trying to play “gotcha” to nail steroids abusers. Maybe the Feds’ lawyers should take a little more prep time next they’re going after an athlete.
Maybe the Feds should think twice before prosecuting Armstrong. With the track record, the odds of their lawyers getting out of the courtroom with their reputations intact is highly unlikely.
Judge rules mistrial in Clemens perjury case. [ESPN]
