Bond's testimony unsealed

[RShack]

From http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=sportsnetwork&page=/mlb/news/AAN4134889.htm

Barry Bonds' grand jury testimony will soon be public, a federal judge ordered Friday.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston signed an order Friday that will make Bonds' testimony public. His grand jury testimony, given under oath in December 2003, is at the center of his November 15, 2007 indictment for perjury and obstruction of justice.

Prosecutors hit Bonds with a five-count indictment -- four counts of perjury and one for obstruction of justice -- after one of the longest federal grand jury investigations in Northern California history involving the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO).

[giantfan]

To bad it was leaked 5 years ago, whats the point now?

[RShack]

From the NY Times...

The unsealed transcript showed that when Bonds testified before the grand jury in December 2003, the government had evidence of at least two tests that showed Bonds had elevated levels of testosterone. Much of Bonds’s grand jury testimony was known because The San Francisco Chronicle published an article detailing some of the sealed testimony in 2004. The article did not specifically address positive steroid tests.

When the government indicted Bonds, it said it could prove that Bonds, the holder of baseball’s single-season and career records for home runs, had made false statements about a 2000 positive test for steroids. The indictment hinted at another positive test, but did not provide specifics. But the grand jury testimony did just that... In the grand jury testimony, the second positive test emerged when the government asked Bonds about a January 2001 test conducted by Balco that showed Bonds had elevated levels of testosterone. That test came before the 2001 season, when Bonds set the record for home runs in a season with 73.

[Moose Milligan]

ZZZZZOMGZZZ!! OH NOEZZ!! Bonds tested pozzitvez???

Karma.

[RShack]

ZZZZZOMGZZZ!! OH NOEZZ!! Bonds tested pozzitvez???

Karma.

The best part is that he tested positive before anybody made him take a test.

He did it on his own, and now he's up for perjury about it.

It's kinda like a guy who's armed and suicidal... it's all up to him...

[laxtonto]

I read the entire 156 pages last night.... Im not sure what grounds the feds are trying to prosecute Bonds on...

The entire Grand Jury questions dealt with Bonds taking steriods and the cream and the clear

Did you know...

Bonds took the cream and the clear from anderson in the Giants clubhouse, in front of everyone including the training staff every time Anderson brought it to him.

The clear is used in a single serving under the tongue in a disposable single use vial

Bonds doesnt allow anyone besides the Giants Doctors or his personal Physcian to use a needle on him, including all blood test that he provided anderson.

The Blood tests that Bonds took, Anderson said, required 30 minutes at the max before he samples where invalid.

Bonds has no idea what suppliments he takes, they are provide in packets from Anderson, aswell as his conditioning trainer and his flexiblity trainer.

Bonds hates the MLB front offices, or more along the lines does not trust them.

This, among all the court documents t hat have been provided for the steriods debate, is the most interesting reading ive come across.

Bonds is either a clueless idiot or an absolute genius....

He either never realized what was going on or hes smart enough to know he stands a great chance of getting away with it saying he doenst know.

Full transcript in PDF form...Enjoy

http://cdn.sfgate.com/chronicle/acrobat/2008/03/01/blbonds.pdf

As far as the positive tests go, All Bonds has to do is say "I took the pills that where provided to me by my personal stregnth trainer, Anderson, plus the ones provide for me by my perosnal flexibility and personal conditioning trainers."

There is no smoking gun, no great quote, that stands out waiting to get burned down. This may be one of the worse possible outcomes for the feds. Now everyone in America gets to read this hey. The Feds need Conte or Anderson, and for the time being, which doesnt look like its going to happen. Kinda odd where Clemens is the greater villian than Barry.

[Mark Carver]

As far as the positive tests go, All Bonds has to do is say "I took the pills that where provided to me by my personal stregnth trainer, Anderson, plus the ones provide for me by my perosnal flexibility and personal conditioning trainers."

There is no smoking gun, no great quote, that stands out waiting to get burned down. This may be one of the worse possible outcomes for the feds. Now everyone in America gets to read this hey. The Feds need Conte or Anderson, and for the time being, which doesnt look like its going to happen. Kinda odd where Clemens is the greater villian than Barry.

Ignorance is no excuse. It didn't work at Nuremberg, and it won't work here...

[laxtonto]

Ignorance is no excuse. It didn't work at Nuremberg, and it won't work here...

Nuremberg is a War Crimes case tried under international law, Bonds is a Purjury case tried in US federal court that requires the defendant to knowingly and willingly lie about what he is saying in a sworn statement. So ignorance of the fact that he is taking them, is in fact an excuse.

Proving Bonds took steriods has never been the issue. It may fire up the public, make people mad about the HR record, but its never been the issue with the Bonds case. Its can you prove that Bonds took streriods knowingly and willingly and then lied about it in his sworn statement.

Perjury cases are very hard to prove without direct refuting evidence, much like the Clemens saga.

Read the entire transcript, its only 156 pages, and find a point where you think the feds have a good spot to really try and tie Barry to steriods.

If they can prove he took injections from Anderson or some one else, fine the feds will win.

If the Feds can get Conte or Anderson to turn on Bonds and testify that Bonds knew, fine the feds win.

If the feds can get somebody else to testify that they have sold Bonds steriods, the feds win.

If the feds can get direct testimony that is creditable stating the Bonds himself admited to steriod use and can be coribirated, the feds win.

If the feds can prove that Bonds knew that the tests where in fact for steriods and not for overall vitamin and mineral levels, then the feds win.

We can rail all we want as the outraged public about this, but this case is out of the real world, its in the world of the courts now. Forget what you believe, forget how you feel about this case, the only thing that truly matters in this entire ordeal is what you can prove or disprove.

[Winning_Season]

I thought Conte already turned on Bonds, it was just anderson who was in jail for refusing to testify

[laxtonto]

The Feds screwed the pooch on that one. They neglected to force Conte to tell his entire story under oath to the feds. For what i gather they just pleaded him out.

From the New York Times

Victor Conte Jr., the central figure in the steroids scandal that linked the use of performance-enhancing drugs to some of the country's top professional baseball, football and track and field athletes, pleaded guilty yesterday in a deal with federal prosecutors that was strongly criticized by anti-doping experts.

Victor Conte Jr. struck a deal with prosecutors that does not require further cooperation on his part.

Conte, the founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative who faced a 42-count federal indictment, pleaded guilty to one count of distributing steroids and one count of money laundering before United States District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco.

Under the plea agreement, Conte will be sentenced to four months in prison and four months of house arrest, his lawyer said. A formal acceptance of the agreement is set for October.

The deal does not require Conte to cooperate with federal authorities or anti-doping officials about drug use by athletes, said his lawyer, Mary McNamara.

Link

Not entirely sure why, but then again i dont think anyone thought this would blow up the way it did.

Im not entirely sure Conte would even be a killing blow unless he has a way to prove any conversation with Barry really happend. This whole mess seems mismanaged from the get go. To much of this is being forced by public opinion and political grandstanding and corners are being cut to get there. Those cut corners are what is really hurting the Bonds case.

If the Feds really went after Conte, and took him to trial or atleast ensured that Conte would maintain his coperation, then he would be an invaluable source for the prosecution, if in fact he has anything on Bonds. Now, he just stays out of the way.

Heres a nice exert list with alot of th interesting stuff in it if you dont want to read the entire 156 pages...

LINK

And another interesting thing out of yesterdays meeting was

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston ordered prosecutors to amend Bonds' indictment so that each of the five counts against him don't cite multiple statements that prosecutors say are false.

Prosecutors originally accused Bonds of lying 19 different times during his grand jury appearance, and charged him with four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice.

Illston agreed with Bonds' attorney Dennis Riordan that prosecutors must edit out many of the alleged lies or seek a new indictment, which could contain more charges.

Prosecutors are expected to decide whether to seek a new indictment before Bonds' next court date March 21.

Alot of interesting twists and turns on this one...

[RShack]

Nuremberg is a Murder case, Bonds is a Purjury case...

Well, actually Nuremburg and the Asian counterpart were War Crimes cases, not Murder cases, and guys got convicted of War Crimes for waterboarding, regardless of what they said and regardless of what anybody said to them. We're not supposed to argue about that here, so let's not make a big deal about Nuremburg vs. what happens around here nowadays. The basic point is that *saying* you're not responsible doesn't mean you're not responsible.

I agree however that proving Perjury is a hard thing to do. There's lots of examples where people have said "I don't know" and "I don't remember", and are getting off scot-free, like they're not responsible just because they say they're not. Whether it works for Bonds is something we'll find out. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it does work.

[giantfan]

Ignorance is no excuse. It didn't work at Nuremberg, and it won't work here...

It worked for wesley snipes, I still dont know how he got out of that mess.

[giantfan]

I thought Conte already turned on Bonds, it was just anderson who was in jail for refusing to testify

Conte never really dealt with bonds specifically, anderson was the in-between guy. Conte basically keeps saying I supplied anderson with the clear but i dont know about his customers. Anderson had many body building customers during that time.

[Baltimoron]

Conte never really dealt with bonds specifically, anderson was the in-between guy. Conte basically keeps saying I supplied anderson with the clear but i dont know about his customers. Anderson had many body building customers during that time.

My understanding is that the alleged positive tests the Feds have evidence of were obtained from the Feds search of Balco.

If this is so, that would seem to suggest its more likely Conte had a supervisory role in "managing" Bonds drug regime, which I understand is what people believe Conte's role was. But Conte denies this, so I don't know.

[Baltimoron]

It worked for wesley snipes, I still dont know how he got out of that mess.

Because he is *Wesley Snipes.* He a smooth MF and had cash to pay for a good defense. And is a better actor than you might think.

He's not completely out of it, but he avoided the felonies and faces a much reduced max sentence, like only 3 as compared to 16.