Barry Bonds Indicted

Barry Bonds has been indicted for perjury as a consequence of his testimony in the Balco investigation.

The WaPo has a bit; ABC News NY has more, including the indictment (as a .pdf embedded in an HTML page - cool).  Here is a normal 11 page .pdf.

Bonds is accused of lying when he denied ever knowingly using steroids.  Bonds is also accused of lying when he denied ever having been injected by his trainer, Anderson.  Finally Bonds is accused about lying about the timing of his steroid use - apparently Bonds tested positive for steroids in November 2000, which is a bit of a head-scratcher since baseball only started steroid testing in 2002.  A quick guess - the Feds got ahold of an old blood sample drawn for other purposes and tested it in 2003 during the Balco investigation.  Or, thinking out loud here, maybe Balco took blood to test its own clients.  If so, that was pretty dumb of them to save the results.

Comments

[Forbes]

Is that what's called "the other shoe dropping"?

[MayBee]

I find this satisfying.

[Jane]

Geez the guy had immunity. Seems like the record was more important than his freedom.

[Ava]

It sure is difficult to feel sorry for him.

[vnjagvet]

The charges in the indictment are very similar to those in the Libby case.

Bonds admitted getting the "clear and the cream" in between the 2002-2004 season. He either denied or did not remember getting it before that.

It is very sad to me. Like Michael Vick, Shoeless Joe, Pete Rose, and other very talented men with weak character (or bad counsel).

[Other Tom]

I'll predict two things with the highest degree of confidence:

(1) He will not enter a plea agreement.

(2) He will not be convicted.

I say this even though I truly hate him and hate what he had done to the history of baseball as I know it, and believe he is absolutely guilty.

[Other Tom]

"Has done."

[Walter]

Time magazine reports that he is facing a 30-year prison sentence if convicted on all five counts.

You'd think after all the furor over Libby's sentence they'd recall that the sentencing guidelines put his likely time at 17 months.

But then again, maybe the SF USA was investigating whether anyone was harmed or killed by the use of steroids. Could be enough to cross-reference and get the maximum.

Other Tom, I'd have to agree on your prediction. This situation (Bonds in front of a San Francisco jury) is almost the exact converse of Libby's. My (Irish) father-in-law spent the last 20 years as a prosecutor there--he thinks Barry is being persecuted because he is black.

[Other Tom]

I think he's being persecuted because the feds really believe he lied to them, and they just hate that. Ask Scooter; ask Martha Stewart. But he is liked, even loved, by San Francisco in general, and I know from personal experience that juries there are as off-the-wall as any this side of Mississippi.

Two things the press will universally screw up every single time: When a guy gets charged with a bunch of different offenses, they'll always add up the sentence for each and pronounce that "Jones could get up to X years if convicted on all counts," even though such a result has never happened in all of history. And if some clown files a lawsuit for, say, getting the wrong pants back from the cleaners, and in the prayer for relief he says he wants a billion dollars in punitive damages, it will be faithfully reported in the press as a "billion-dollar lawsuit." Whatever number the plaintiff uses, whether it's for punitive or actual damages, instantly becomes the value of the lawsuit in the eyes of American journalists. They are just so comfortably lazy and sloppy that it's comical.

[bgates]

Thank goodness Something is Being Done about steroid use in baseball. But wait! I have heard that some baseball players work out with weights! Players do this to improve their performance, but sometimes injuries result. Besides, Babe Ruth never did it, so it should be outlawed and violators sent to federal prison.

And diet - many major league ball players eat meat! Sure, eating a high-calorie, protein-rich diet can improve athletic performance, but there are long term health risks. Let's outlaw that too.

Look, baseball is a game, games have rules, if Bonds broke the rules baseball can toss him out. There's no crying in baseball. But there really shouldn't be federal prison time either.

[jimmyk]

Look, baseball is a game, games have rules, if Bonds broke the rules baseball can toss him out. There's no crying in baseball. But there really shouldn't be federal prison time either.

And there isn't. But once again we have the prosecution of the "coverup" even without the underlying crime. If Bonds gets jail time it won't be for breaking baseball's rules.

[kim]

OT but wothehell; CBS calls Rather bizarre.
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[Tom Maguire]

But once again we have the prosecution of the "coverup" even without the underlying crime.

Well, the Feds wanted Balco for illegal drug dealing and money laundering, which are arguably non-trivial crimes (even though we aren't talking about heroin or cocaine here, and one might argue the feds re-directed the war on drugs into a War on Steroids).

That said, the feds wanted the cooperation of Balco's customers and in many cases got it (see Jason Giambi). In addition, the Feds offered immunity for any non-perjurious testimony.

One might guess that Bonds lied to spare himself embarrassment in anticipation of leaked testimony in violation of grand jury secrecy (see Jason Giambi again.) But he still lied, thereby putting a speed bump in the Balco prosecution.

I don't know whether being black is also a factor, but I bet that being an arrogant jerk has not helped him.

[Clyde]

It would be pretty dumb if a BALCO sample ends up being the evidence that trips Bonds up. But you know how it is: They save this stuff forever. You had those French judges analyzing frozen pee-cicles from Lance Armstrong years after they were given, trying to find a sample that would show he cheated. One wonders how big the freezers are for their pee-cicle collection. All I can say is if you go to France and they offer you a yellow popsicle, don't take it!

[Other Tom]

Is BGates aware that Bonds hasn't been indicted for using steroids? Just as Martha Stewart wasn't indicted for insider trading, Scooter Libby wasn't indicted for outing Plame, and Clinton wasn't impeached for shtupping Monica.

When you lie to the feds, they get really, really unhappy about it, and they come after you relentleslly.

[geb4000]

Don't lie to the feds no matter who you are. I think they should teach that in school.

[jimmyk]

Well, the Feds wanted Balco for illegal drug dealing and money laundering, which are arguably non-trivial crimes

Fair enough. I was focusing only on Bonds, who hasn't been charged with an underlying crime. I did have a sense that Bonds was really the target all along, but maybe the prosecutors were never under any illusion that he had done anything illegal.

[Chuck Gallagher]

So just how important is it to tell the truth?

As a motivational speaker, I was recently speaking to a group of high school students about the importance of telling the truth and making the right choices. What qualified me to make this presentation - personal experience…perhaps one of the best teachers in life. Having spent time in Federal prison for making unethical decisions, I know first hand the impact that choices have in our life. I am not proud of those decisions, but, likewise, refuse to hide the fact that I made them and that the impact they had on my life were - well - life changing.

As reported in the Wall Street Journal law blog, MLB’s home run hitter Barry Bonds has been indicted for - well simply put - “lying!” http://blogs.wsj.com/law/

The post in the WSJ Blog states: “Bonds joins a line of individuals stretching from Alger Hiss to Martha Stewart to Scooter Libby to who were indicted not for commiting an underlying crime, but for lying to investigators. Each time this happens, critics argue that a perjury prosecution is nothing more than an excuse for overzealous prosecutors to bring a headline-grabbing case against a boldfaced name. On the other hand, in pursuing such well-known figures, the feds hope to send a message to the meek and mighty alike: Don’t lie.”

I couldn’t agree more. Whether Bonds is convicted like Martha Stewart or not…the fact remains that the consequences of lying can have dramatic, life-changing effects. Take it from one who knows, “Club Fed” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It’s prison and no one I know wants to be there.

I routinely speak to business groups and associations on ethics, choices, consequences and their total effect. Every choice has a consequence - and the sooner we recognize that telling the truth is a choice the quicker we control the type of consequences we face. I personally perfer ”positive results” from the choices I make.

[Chuck Gallagher]

So just how important is it to tell the truth?

As a motivational speaker, I was recently speaking to a group of high school students about the importance of telling the truth and making the right choices. What qualified me to make this presentation - personal experience…perhaps one of the best teachers in life. Having spent time in Federal prison for making unethical decisions, I know first hand the impact that choices have in our life. I am not proud of those decisions, but, likewise, refuse to hide the fact that I made them and that the impact they had on my life were - well - life changing.

As reported in the Wall Street Journal law blog, MLB’s home run hitter Barry Bonds has been indicted for - well simply put - “lying!” http://blogs.wsj.com/law/

The post in the WSJ Blog states: “Bonds joins a line of individuals stretching from Alger Hiss to Martha Stewart to Scooter Libby to who were indicted not for commiting an underlying crime, but for lying to investigators. Each time this happens, critics argue that a perjury prosecution is nothing more than an excuse for overzealous prosecutors to bring a headline-grabbing case against a boldfaced name. On the other hand, in pursuing such well-known figures, the feds hope to send a message to the meek and mighty alike: Don’t lie.”

I couldn’t agree more. Whether Bonds is convicted like Martha Stewart or not…the fact remains that the consequences of lying can have dramatic, life-changing effects. Take it from one who knows, “Club Fed” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It’s prison and no one I know wants to be there.

I routinely speak to business groups and associations on ethics, choices, consequences and their total effect. Every choice has a consequence - and the sooner we recognize that telling the truth is a choice the quicker we control the type of consequences we face. I personally perfer ”positive results” from the choices I make.

[Other Tom]

JimmyK, the absence of an "underlying crime" has been bandied about on this site ad nauseum, and most of us were offended by such absence in the case of Scooter Libby. It was somewhat less offensive in the case of Martha Stewart, in light of the clear evidence that she had affirmatively sought to deceive the investigators.

But in the Bonds case, the reason he hasn't been charged with an underlying crime is that he was granted immunity from prosecution for any and all such crimes. The only charge to which he could be exposed after the grant of immunity was perjury in the event he didn't tell the truth. So he's pretty much like the kid who kills his parents and asks for mercy because he's an oprphan.

[cathyf]

Don't lie to the feds no matter who you are. I think they should teach that in school.

Complete misinterpretation of the lessons of events. Scooter Libby was convicted of obstruction of justice for telling the truth about his conversation with Matt Cooper.

Lie, it's perjury. Tell the truth, it's obstruction of justice. Refuse to talk at all, it's contempt of court. Face it, the real rule is quite simple: tell the feds what they want to hear, or suffer the consequences. If they want a lie, then you'd damn well better lie.

[bgates]

So he's pretty much like the kid who kills his parents and asks for mercy because he's an orphan.
Is Other Tom aware that Bonds hasn't been indicted for killing anybody? Is Other Tom under the impression that this investigation was for something other than steroid use?
When Other Tom said "I truly hate him and hate what he had done to the history of baseball as I know it, and believe he is absolutely guilty." was that in reference to perjury?

[Jane]

The problem I have is "the feds" or their state counter parts, lie like rugs. Cathy has it right. See Nifong, Spitzer, Fitzgerald, Waxman, Reid, Pelosi, and anyone else with a self aggrandizing agenda. I've no sympathy for Bonds but no doubt about what is going on.

[kim]

cathyf, that's a lesson Galileo learned.
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[jimmyk]

But in the Bonds case, the reason he hasn't been charged with an underlying crime is that he was granted immunity from prosecution for any and all such crimes.

He got limited immunity, which in my understanding (and I'm no attorney) means that his testimony couldn't be used as evidence to prosecute him for criminal acts, provided it was truthful. He still could have been prosecuted for those criminal acts based on evidence not gleaned from his testimony. Or am I wrong about this?