Barry Bonds Case: Conviction Reversal Seems Likely

The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine.

“Though the mills of God grind slowly;
Yet they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience he stands waiting,
With exactness grinds he all.” - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow



from San Jose Mercury News:
Barry Bonds Case: Conviction Reversal Seems Likely:

That doubt was evident Thursday, as the judges peppered the government with questions about how a rambling, truthful answer to a question about obtaining and using steroids could be transformed into obstruction of justice. The judges were particularly troubled by the fact that the statement used to convict Bonds was not even specifically cited in the indictment against him, just wrapped up in jury instructions in the obstruction count.

Bonds was indicted on charges related to lying to the grand jury about whether he used steroids while chasing baseball's all-time home run records. A jury more than three years ago deadlocked on perjury charges against Bonds but convicted him on an obstruction charge for his rambling answer to a question about whether his former personal trainer, Greg Anderson, had ever supplied or injected him with steroids.

The answer included musings about being "a celebrity child with a famous father" and other remarks jurors later said were meant to evade questions about his steroid use.

The 9th Circuit judges wondered how that answer could result in obstructing justice when Bonds answered directly to follow-up questions. The jury declined to convict him for those answers.

"That's your problem, in my view," Judge Susan Graber told the government.

Chan told the judges that Bonds' testimony involved a "linchpin statement" that was designed to obstruct the BALCO investigation. In last year's ruling, a unanimous three-judge 9th Circuit panel rejected Bonds' legal arguments that he was convicted of simply providing a rambling answer that did not amount to a crime. The judges found the testimony "evasive" and "misleading."

Some judges pressed Bonds' lawyer, Dennis Riordan, about whether even a rambling statement could be used to obstruct justice.

"Truthful but misleading statements can logically lead ... to suppression of evidence," said Judge Jacqueline Nguyen.

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