After the government spent $55 million dollars, a jury after weeks of testimony, reached a guilty verdict on only 1 count– the obstruction of justice charge in the Barry Bonds case. The jury failed to reach a verdict in the other 3 charges which were the heart of the government’s case. Those charges stem from Bonds’ alleged lying to the government about his use of steroids and growth hormones. A fifth charge was dismissed by the government because the judge said it would have been dismissed. The defense plans to ask the judge to dismiss the guilty verdict. As a former prosecutor, I wonder why the government proceeded on these questionable charges which resulted in millions in tax payer money only to leave an empty verdict. The government pursued Bonds solely on his use of steroids and yet, failed to reach a jury verdict on those charges. A potential government witness, Greg Anderson, refused to testify and is in jail for his failure.
Now, of course, the government can re-trial Bonds on those charges since the jury failed to reach a verdict. It will not be considered double jeopardy because the jury did not render a verdict on those charges. But, that would require even a further waste of taxpayer monies to further a new trial. In this case, I hope the government goes to its corner, refuses to come out again and realizes that it has gotten all that it can get out of Barry Bonds.
Barry Bonds faces up to 15 years for the count for which he was convicted. But, the Bonds saga continues and is hardly over yet.
Leave a Reply