Bonds Moves to Dismiss Perjury Charges

Baseball player Barry Bonds asked a federal judge to dismiss his perjury charges, arguing that the indictment is "scattershot" and noted for its "striking inartfulness."[1]

Bonds was charged in November with lying to a grand jury about his use of performance-enhancing drugs.[2] In the motion filed in San Francisco federal court, the he neither admits nor denies taking the drugs but argues that the questions asked by prosecutors during Bonds' December 2003 grand jury appearance were vague, ambiguous and confusing.[3]

His federal criminal defense lawyers said "the questions posed to him by two different prosecutors were frequently imprecise, redundant, overlapping and frequently compound."[4]

Bonds' lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Susan Illston to either toss the case or order prosecutors to streamline the indictment, which cites 19 different instances of Bonds' alleged lying.[5]

Prosecutors asked Bonds several times whether personal trainer Greg Anderson supplied him with steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs beginning in 2000.[6] Bonds answered "no" or "not at all," but his lawyers argued that the questions were not clear.[7]

Bonds has pleaded not guilty to four charges of perjury and one count of obstruction.

Obstruction of Justice
Under 18 U.S.C. § 1503(a), it is a crime for a person to corruptly influence, obstruct, or impede the due administration of justice. The punishment for a violation of section 1503(a) is a fine, imprisonment for up to 10 years, or both.

Federal criminal defense attorney Douglas McNabb has previous written about the federal crime of perjury, here; and he has previously written on Barry Bonds here.

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[1] AP Staff, Bonds asks federal judge to throw out perjury case, Associated Press Newswire, January 23, 2008, January 9, 2008, available at LEXIS, News Library, Wire News Services.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.