Barry Bonds is in the biggest pickle of his life, but with a little help he might manage to escape scot-free.
The legendary slugger and all-time home run leader is accused of lying during his grand jury testimony in 2003, when he claimed he didn't knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds faces five felony indictments, including four counts of lying to a grand jury and one count of obstruction of justice.
If he is found guilty on all counts, the seven-time NL MVP could face up to 30 months in prison. But I'm willing to bet that Bonds won’t spend one day behind bars.
Bonds couldn’t have asked for a more inept prosecution team. It took two grand juries to even indict Bonds, and the presiding judge over the current trial made the prosecution rewrite their indictment of the former Giants superstar three times.
The continued silence of Bonds’ childhood friend and former trainer, Greg Anderson, also is killing the government’s case, forcing them to rely on sketchy, motive-laden witnesses to prove that Bonds knowingly took steroids.
There isn’t the slightest fragment of doubt in my mind that Bonds took steroids. The real question is, can the government convince a jury that he knowingly did so?
Probably not.
Reach Kyle at kyle.j.newman@asu.edu
