Within the hour a San Francisco grand jury indicted MLB's all time home run and single season home run record holder Barry Lamar Bonds on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. We wondered when the other syringe would fall on BALCO athletes including Bonds. The BALCO investigation has taken longer than a Nomar Garciaparra at bat. (.pdf of indictment here)
TV Station KTVU with the report:
Major League Baseball's all-time home run king Barry Bonds was indicted Thursday on perjury and obstruction justice charges, according to KTVU reporter Rita Williams.The five-count indictment -- four counts of perjury and one of obstruciton of justice -- capped one of the longest federal grand jury investigations in Northern California history -- a proceeding that introduced the sports world to the acronym BALCO (Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative) and led to the downfall of American track and field world and Olympic champions Marion Jones, Kelli White and Tim Montgomery.
The charges against Bonds stem from his Dec.4, 2003 grand jury testimony when he allegedly testified that he did not knowingly take performance enhancing drugs.Bonds trainer and friend Greg Anderson was convicted in the BALCO case on grand jury charges, served time in jail and returned to prison when he refused to testify again against Bonds. He remains in jail.
The specificity of the indictment indicates a very well drawn up plan: the BALCO prosecutor collected evidence he believes he can prove Bonds lied multiple times about steroid or PED use to the grand jury. Furthermore, the obstruction of justice charge indicates the BALCO prosecutor believes he can produce evidence that Bond's lying interfered with the ongoing BALCO investigation. Bond's might not have been a target of the BALCO investigation, however his dishonesty -- according to the feds -- interfered with the pursuit of criminal activity.
Bond's indictment comes at a surprising moment in time. On one hand, the BALCO investigation appears to be one of the longest ongoing investigations in CA history; that an indictment occurs the week before Thanksgiving seems shocking.
On the other hand, several harbingers of Bond's indictment gathered like clouds over the superstar's large shaved head:
- The persistent imprisonment of Bond's trainer Greg Anderson who refused to give investigators information about Bond's PED use
- The persistent doggedness of the BALCO chief investigator, Jeff Novitzsky
- The repeated renewals of the BALCO Grand Jury, which must be reappointed every 6 months (for up to 3 years)
Many thought that the feds would lay off Bonds during the long chase of the all-time home run record.
First, they did not want to be seen as obstructionist in the superstar's chase of fame, an action which would absolutely supercharge an already emotional situation.
Second, the Anderson situation, continued to play out as Bond's former trainer steadfastly refused to give testimony on Bonds to the feds. However, reports indicated that Anderson became fatigued and discouraged about his plight in jail.
Third, some of the witnesses over the years lost luster. A key witness remains Bond's former paramour, Kimberly Bell, who recently posed for Playboy. Although theoretically what Bell does with her life is of no relevance to testimony, that sort of opportunistic behavior does not look good in court. The BALCO investigators needed evidence for a solid case, which takes time; however the longer the delays in indicting Bonds, the more chances for witness mischief or the greater the ravages of time acts upon witness memory. Not only did Bell pose nude for Playboy, she is now giving interviews exposing Bond's use of steroids.
Another factor in the delay could be the threefold change in BALCO federal prosecutor leadership. Kevin Ryan, the original BALCO prosecutor was sacked by the Bush administration's Alberto Gonzalez. DA Scott Schools temporarily handled the San Francisco position resigning in July. However, Schools handled the Bonds indictment.
Comments