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GRAND JURY INDICTS BONDS

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By DAVE SHEININ and AMY SHIPLEY, The Washington Post

Published: November 16, 2007

Barry Bonds, the most prolific slugger in baseball history and holder of the most cherished record in American sports, was indicted Thursday on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, stemming from his testimony to a federal grand jury four years ago that he had not knowingly used steroids.

Bonds, 43, faces a maximum of 30 years in prison if convicted on the four perjury charges and one obstruction of justice charge being brought against him for allegedly lying under oath.

An arraignment has been scheduled for Dec. 7 at U.S. District Court in San Francisco, with a trial unlikely to begin until late next spring at the earliest.

"During the criminal investigation, evidence was obtained including positive tests for the presence of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing substances for Bonds and other athletes," the indictment said.

Prosecutors promised Bonds they wouldn't charge him with any drug-related counts if he testified truthfully.

But according to the indictment, Bonds repeatedly denied taking steroids or performance-enhancing drugs despite evidence to the contrary.

For instance, investigators seized a so-called "doping calendar" labeled "BB" during a raid at the home of Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson.

"He could know other BBs," Bonds replied when shown the calendar during his testimony.

Asked whether Anderson supplied him with steroids, Bonds answered: "Not that I know of." Bonds denied taking steroids when he was shown documents revealing a positive steroids test for a player named Barry B.

"I've never seen these documents," Bonds said. "I've never seen these papers."

Issue Has Been Hanging Around For 4 Years

Bonds' legal status had been hanging over baseball for nearly four years, providing a face to a controversy involving the use of performance-enhancing drugs by elite athletes and creating a murky backdrop to Bonds' pursuit this summer of Hank Aaron's all-time home run record.

Michael Rains, Bonds' attorney, criticized prosecutors for not providing Bonds' defense with a copy of the indictment, saying, "Now that their biased allegations must finally be presented openly in a court of law, they won't be able to hide their unethical misconduct from the public any longer."

Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig released a statement saying, "While everyone in America is considered innocent until proven guilty, I take this indictment very seriously and will follow its progress closely."

President Bush, the former owner of the Texas Rangers, also reacted to the news.

"The president is very disappointed to hear this," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said. "As this case is now in the criminal justice system, we will refrain from any further specific comments about it. But clearly this is a sad day for baseball."

That Bonds, baseball's all-time home run king and its most polarizing figure, would be accused of using steroids is hardly surprising.

His transformation from a lithe leadoff hitter in the 1990s to the hulking slugger who destroyed many of the most sacred records in baseball this decade has long drawn scrutiny, and it was widely known that the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California had been pursuing perjury charges against Bonds.

Government's Case 'Looks Pretty Strong'

However, the timing of the indictment stunned the baseball world, which until Thursday was more concerned with where Bonds, a free agent after the San Francisco Giants cut him loose after this season, would be playing in 2008.

It came nearly four years after Bonds' original grand jury testimony in the investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative, a San Francisco area nutritional supplements lab known as Balco, and after months in which there had been no visible evidence of progress in the government's case.

Hours after the indictment was handed down, a federal judge ordered Anderson, Bonds' personal trainer and a central figure in the Balco case, released from prison, where he had been serving for much of the past year for refusing to testify against Bonds.

Anderson's lawyer, Mark Geragos, said his client did not change his mind about testifying.

"Not only has he not changed his mind, he's more incensed than ever," Geragos said. "He was misled. The only reason he went into custody was because the government said it could not make its case without his cooperation."

Still, the government's case against Bonds "looks pretty strong," said Wayne Cohen, an adjunct professor at George Washington University Law School and past president of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington D.C.

"The standard for guilt on perjury and obstruction cases is easier to prove than it would be on the underlying steroids case, and all they need are documents and a witness, and the government will be able to make its case."

Only three months ago, Bonds hit home run No. 756 off Washington Nationals pitcher Mike Bacsik to break Aaron's record.

Bonds, who has won an unprecedented seven most valuable player awards, is the third athlete and fourth sports figure to face perjury charges in connection with the Balco probe.

Last month, five-time Olympic medal winner Marion Jones pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about her steroid use before and after the 2000 Summer Games. Track cyclist Tammy Thomas and Jones' former coach, Trevor Graham, were indicted last year on perjury charges; both cases could go to trial next month.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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