Time Warp: November 15, 2007 (Barry Bonds)
On this day in 2007, Barry Bonds was indicted for making false statements to a grand jury regarding his use of steroids.
In United States v. Bonds, prosecutors charged the San Francisco Giants slugger, and all-time home run leader, of committing perjury and obstruction of justice by lying under oath to a federal grand jury during its investigation of the BALCO Affair, in which Balco Laboratories was investigated for providing professional athletes with steroids. According to the indictment, when asked whether Balco’s Greg Anderson ever gave Bonds anything that Bonds knew to be steroids, Bonds said, “Not that I know of.” After further questioning, Bonds continued to deny ever knowingly taking any steroids. According to additional counts in the five-count indictment, Bonds also claimed that no one other than his physicians injected him with anything, and that his use of various topical substances didn’t begin until 2003, later than Balco’s records indicated. Bonds had been given immunity for any statements he made during his testimony. Neither his testimony, nor any information derived from it, could be used against him in any criminal case. However, this immunity did not apply to perjury or making false declarations. The indictment charged Bonds with violating 18 U.S.C. 1623(a) – Perjury, and 18 U.S.C. 1503 – Obstruction of Justice. The trial is set for March 21, 2011.
A copy of the indictment can be found here (pdf)
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