Is Barry Bonds a lying king?

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 11/21/2007

I don’t know about you, but the indictment of Major League Baseball’s all-time homerun king Barry Bonds hurts me.

 I have always believed that you look a man in his eyes and take him at his word. That’s what we did with Atlanta Falcons star Michael Vick — remember this summer? — only later to find out he lied to us and was involved heavily in financing doÅg fighting.

 That’s what we did with disgraced Olympian track and field star Marion Jones; she denied for years using steroids, only later to disclose that she has been taking steroids for years and admit that she committed perjury.

 Bonds has denied ever knowingly taking steroids from day one, and he never has tested positive in a Major League Baseball drug test.

 This summer, under heavy suspicion and a cloud of questions, Bonds broke Henry Aaron’s longstanding career homerun mark of 755; the new mark is now 762. Last week, word finally came down that Bonds has been indicted by a federal grand jury on four counts of perjury and one count of obstructing justice.

 If Bonds is convicted on all the charges, he could spend 30 years in jail. That is not likely. These charges are the result of a four-year investigation into BALCO (Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative) that supplied steroids and other supplements to athletes.

 The fact that it took so long for the feds to indict Bonds invites more speculation. The shocking news is that, while the feds say Bonds tested positive for anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing substances that were recovered by federal BALCO investigators, all this evidence has been in their possession for over three years.

Under heavy media scrutiny the last four years, Bonds has vehemently denied ever using performance-enhancing drugs and has never publicly tested positive in baseball’s steroid tests, which started in 2003.

 Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig even said that, when he asked Bonds privately if he used steroids, he denied using them. But the feds allege that Bonds lied all along when he testified with immunity before a grand jury years ago that he never took steroids supplied by his longtime friend and personal trainer Greg Anderson.

 Anderson was released from jail the same day that Bonds was indicted last week. He had spent the last year, since July 2006, in jail on contempt of court charges because he refused to testify against Bonds and never cooperated in the investigation.

 Just because Bonds has been indicted does not mean he’s guilty. This is very serious, and yes, the feds win 95 percent of their indictments, and no player has ever been inducted into the Hall of Fame that was indicted.

 Bonds’ attorney, Mike Rains, said, “All you need to know about the government’s case is that they leaked an official indictment to every media outlet in America and withheld it from Barry, his lawyer, and everyone else who could read it and defend him.

 “Now that their biased allegations must finally be presented openly in a court of law,” said Rains, “they won’t be able to hide their unethical misconduct from the public any longer. You won’t read about those facts in this indictment, but now the public will get the whole truth, not just selectively leaked fabrications from anonymous sources.”

 This is a big case — obviously Bonds’ legacy is at stake here, and it appears this Bonds indictment is headed for trial. The United States Supreme Court, in a 1973 decision of Bronston vs. United States, held that a witness’ answer to a question, even if intentionally misleading or evasive, does not constitute perjury as long as the defense can prove that it is literally true.

 Remember how President Bill Clinton was impeached and, during his world-famous trial hearings, was found not guilty? If you can raise a reasonable doubt, then the jury can’t convict you.

 Bonds is a seven-time National League MVP who hit 73 homeruns in 2001, a major league record, and he is a 14-time All-Star. But, if he is found guilty it would mean three strikes and you’re out — first Vick, then Jones, and now Bonds?

 Larry Fitzgerald can be heard weekday mornings on KMOJ Radio 89.9 FM at 8:25 am, and biweekly he commentates on sports 7-8 pm on Almanac (TPT channel 2). He welcomes reader responses to lfitzgerald@spokesman-re corder.com, or visit www.Larry-Fitzgerald.com. 

cap: Homerun king Barry Bonds at the 2003 Major League All-Star Game

Photo by Larry Fitzgerald