Federal Grand Jury Indicts Barry Bonds

AP ^ | 2:24 pm PST November 15, 2007 | AP via NBC11.com

[ECM]

Baseball superstar Barry Bonds was charged Thursday with perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying when he said he did not use performance-enhancing drugs.

The indictment, unsealed Thursday by federal prosecutors in San Francisco, is the culmination of a four-year federal probe into whether he lied under oath to a grand jury investigating steroid use by elite athletes.

The indictment comes three months after the 43-year-old Bonds, one of the biggest names in professional sports, passed Hank Aaron to become baseball's career home run leader, his sport's most hallowed record.

[2nd Bn, 11th Mar]

Bonds is a racist.
I predict there will be a huge effort to make this into a “sports lynching”.

[GSWarrior]

They guy cheated and lied to a grand jury about it and for this he faces up to 30 years in prison? Aren’t there enough real criminals to chase?

[aposiopetic]

It should not be criminal to lie to a grand jury?

[microgood]

The indictment, unsealed Thursday by federal prosecutors in San Francisco, is the culmination of a four-year federal probe into whether he lied under oath to a grand jury investigating steroid use by elite athletes.

What a waste of money. More idiotic federalization of crime, and not for doing anything, just process.

[BlazingArizona]

Why are they wasting my tax dollars on this?

Because drugs are involved. They're filing this under the special Drug War Constitution, the one without any pesky amendments.

[BlazingArizona]

It should not be criminal to lie to a grand jury?

So far as I'm concerned, being ON a grand jury is a criminal act.

[napscoordinator]

Why are they wasting my tax dollars on this?

This is the best tax spending I have seen in years. Too see that shister behind bars would be worth the taxes spent.

[poinq]

Why should there be an asterisk. WHy should his numbers be there at all.

[microgood]

It should not be criminal to lie to a grand jury?

No. If you refuse to talk to them they can throw you in prison, even though you have not been convicted or charged with any crime. Its a pretty one sided system and turns due process on its head. There is none..

You cannot have your lawyer present. What they do is ask you the same question 5000 different times and ways and if you change one word in the answer they charge you with perjury

I would never talk to a grand jury. They can always turn anything you say into perjury. I would just do the time for contempt

[ml/nj]

I'm having trouble with this. The report I heard is that he could get up to 30 years. It was just about drugs. Everyone lies about drugs. I seem to remember some sort of precedent established by the husband of one of the candidates for President. For President. Bonds is just a friken ballplayer.

ML/NJ

[aposiopetic]

Not talking is not the same as lying.

[angcat]

Exactly... and pedophiles and criminals run free.

[LIConFem]

Your screen name answers your question.

;o)

[GSWarrior]

It should not be criminal to lie to a grand jury?

I don't think the feds should be involved in what goes on in baseball.

[microgood]

Not talking is not the same as lying.

Here is a good discussion of the perjury trap and how it is used.

Ironically, after the firing of the US Attorneys, they are trying to get the Assistant to the Attorney General to actually perjure herself about something that is not even an illegal act. Like all powers the government has, this one is abused extensively.

Except for the President, no other public official holds more power than a federal prosecutor with his poodle grand jury in tow.

[microgood]

Oops forgot to include the link

The Perjury Trap

[Badeye]

It will be interesting to see if a Lyle Alzado type fate awaits Barry Bonds.

I strongly suspect thats what will happen sometime in his future.

[aposiopetic]

Thanks for the link to the Gershman article. I don’t doubt for a moment the reality of the trap. However, there are ways to deal with it other than by lying. If you are saying that the system ought to be changed, and that prosecutors and grand juries have too much power, you’ll not hear any objection from me.

[microgood]

However, there are ways to deal with it other than by lying.

You are definitely right about that. 30 years is a long time. You never want to put yourself in that situation.

[an amused spectator]

Federal law enforcement is high school with guns.

No doubt in my mind.

Why any American who is wealthy enough doesn't have his or her assets parked beyond the reach of the obsessive-compulsive bureaucratic nutcases running the country is beyond me.

They should also have a plane on stand-by for these kind of eventualities...