U.S. v. Bonds:  Ppd.

No makeup date scheduled:

And so the Barry Bonds saga rages on. With little end in sight.

What once seemed like closure on the horizon — a perjury trial for baseball’s home run king set to begin Monday, nearly six years after the BALCO scandal first erupted — now has been put on indefinite hold.

The government announced Friday its intention to appeal pretrial rulings that would keep out significant pieces of evidence, bringing the case to a screeching halt despite Judge Susan Illston’s chastising prosecutors for even considering an appeal at the 11th hour.

The start to the trial, legal experts say, likely will be delayed several months, if not considerably longer.

My prediction: this never goes to trial. There’s no way the feds win this appeal, and if they don’t think they can win the trial now, nothing is going to change later. The appeal will be briefed and argued, Bonds will win, and the feds will drop this case.


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Andy L
15 years ago

Does Anderson stay free meanwhile?  I mean, he doesn’t have to sit in prison while this thing gets delayed and delayed, does he?

Craig Calcaterra
15 years ago

He’s free.  He hasn’t technically acted in contempt of court until he’s called to the stand and refuses to speak.  If he had wanted, he could have told everyone in the world that he wasn’t going to testify, and then showed up next week and sung like a bird.

Aaron Moreno
15 years ago

Well, looks like we’ll see things blow over into the baseball season, and then the case will quietly disappear.

mark b
15 years ago

Craig,

Just wondering if you saw this article from Lester Munson:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=munson_lester&id=3940981

He claims this is a good move by the government and the judge should get overturned on appeal.  From everything I’ve read (not just you) this seems unlikely.  Myself, being a law student, it seems unlikely to be overturned. 

My favorite part is how Munson doesn’t begin to discuss the value of going forward in this case.  Anyways, just curious to hear your thoughts.

Craig Calcaterra
15 years ago

I think Munson is on crack.  I’m going to post an update shortly to address why.

themarksmith
15 years ago

Kangaroo Court time? Oh wait, we already hanged him … oops. Can you continue to prosecute a dead man?