Grand Jury Indicts Barry Bonds – TIME
Barry Bonds was indicted Thursday for perjury and obstruction of justice, charged with lying when he told a federal grand jury that he did not knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs.
Back in 1998, It seemed crazy when Todd McFarlane a brilliant but eccentric comic-book artist turned…
The Man Who‘ll Cash In on Bonds. If convicted on all five counts, baseball’s home run king could go to prison for up to 30 years.
According to all the local sources, they’ve been out to GET Bonds.
Where’s tax evasion indictment for the autograph signing sessions he used to keep his mistress comfortable?
presumably, if convicted, he will get the same commutation that Scooter Libby got …
I am no Barry Bonds fan and I am glad that they branded that ball with a big, fat asterix, but really – this is typical Federal crapola. they don’t charge you with doing anything, they charge you with lying about it afterwards. did the same thing to Libby, Martha Stewart and so on.
if they can prove that Barry Bonds was in criminal possession of a controlled substance on X date at Y place, then charge him with that. if not, then not.
grand juries exist to investigate possible crimes, not to manufacture ancillary perjury charges.
>>they don’t charge you with doing anything
That doesn’t mean you didn’t DO anything. I doubt anybody is seriously putting forth the proposition that Barry Bonds didn’t have a steroid-filled hypodermic syringe permanently in his ass.
Why did anyone care in the first place?!? Baseball sucks
Oh and, If I were to choose a sport, that was to require steroid use… I’d Choose NASCAR
He did it, and they should have found the evidence to prove it instead of catching him in a lie which dilutes the whole issue. Laws not only exist to punish but to deter crime and I do not see justice coming any time soon.
#3, MM
So what if Bonds used steroids. News for you. It isn’t illegal to have steroids in your body. It IS illegal to possess steroids without a physician’s order, but not to have used them.
#7
The issue is whether he lied to Federal prosecutors. Whether they are legal or not makes no difference. What matters is whether he lied and whether he tried to impeded a Federal investigation.
#9, Thomas,
Correct. If you think about though, it raises the larger question of when is something actually a crime. When the Federal Government may charge you with perjury and obstruction for not telling them exactly what they want to hear leaves me feeling uneasy. The courts have ruled that police may lie to you all day long without sanction, but that same response is not reciprocated?
The whole Grand Jury system is bad. It would be so much fairer to an accused to have the prosecution present their evidence for an indictment through a Preliminary Hearing in an open court setting.
This is just a shame… I mean how can one man be persecuted for so long because of alleged ingestion of Pop-Tarts??
Bonds claims to not have ‘knowingly’ ingested Pop Tarts
This sounds like some racial shit.
#10
With respect to perjury, when you are under investigation, you are obligated to tell the truth. It would be almost impossible to prosecute anyone if lying to police or prosecutors was allowed.
Obstruction of justice is a bit different. I suspect they are going to say that Bonds encouraged others like Anderson to not provide information to police or that he knowingly had information and intentionally withheld it from prosecutors. Again, if this were allowed, the mob would run everything as it would be a simple matter to thwart any investigation.
Grand Juries are simply trying to determine if there is enough evidence for a trial. In this case, Bonds will get his day in court with his lawyers to protect his rights. However, I agree that Grand Juries are problematic from a Constitutional standpoint and should be replaced with fairer solutions. Regardless, whether it is a Grand Jury, preliminary hearing or a simple police investigation, you cannot lie to the court or law enforcement and you cannot intentionally try to thwart an investigation.
Is that why he’s got such a big-ass head in the trading card picture?
Finally i thought baseball was in ruins but i was proven wrong. Aewsomeness will ensue.
The witch hunt continues…the timing was done so that Bonds would break the all time HR record, so federal prosecutors would feel better about their miserable lives in bringing down the all time HR champ.
I hope the case falls apart so Barry can give a big F-U to the government and especially that weasel Bud Selig.
Interest in professional sports wastes entirely too much time and money.
So he bulked up on ‘roids, then hit a fast-moving ball with a heavy stick and it went really far. This time next year, does that make the world a better place? Does whacking a ball get a homeless vet a roof over his head?
Priorities, people. I could see how this dude using ‘roids might encourage misguided athletic youth to also use ‘roids, but is that a problem for me? Unless they go on a ‘roid rage and attack somebody, NO – I don’t give a rat’s ass what the guy wants to shoot up as long as it doesn’t effect anybody else.
Meanwhile we also learn competitiveness and teamwork. You can see how the competition helps us consume more than the Joneses, and the teamwork teaches us to outsource.
???? Exactly.
Sports. Meh.
Cripes I’m glad someone noticed the big head. It’s a running gag on sportstalk radio about his huge noggin.
Too bad there’s no law against the cheating that Belichick pulled in winning a couple of Super Bowls. The personal fine assessed by the NFL was amazing, though — $500,000. And not a word about it, he just paid it.
#18 – I was waiting for someone else to bring up the head. With a head growth like he’s got you have to be guilty….
3. “I doubt anybody is seriously putting forth the proposition that Barry Bonds didn’t have a steroid-filled hypodermic syringe permanently in his ass.”
oh, I bet he did. but why not charge him with it?
13. “It would be almost impossible to prosecute anyone if lying to police or prosecutors was allowed.”
Actually, in a number of jurisdictions you cannot be charged with lying to the cops and prosecutors if you are the target of the investigation. Under the theory that you are under no obligation to snitch yourself out.
#17
Let me guess, you were picked last for sports in school? You sound like one of those geeks that because they always sucked in athletics, now hates sports and any other form of competition. Try taking up a sport and you will be amazed at how much more interesting it is to follow them.
Sports = entertainment. Thus, it matters as much as any other story about entertainers. Sure there are bigger problems in the universe and there always will be. That does not make sports any less interesting.
#21
I question that. Which jurisdictions exactly? I might buy the idea that you do not have to answer police or help them with their investigation, but I would be very surprised to find out that it is acceptable to intentionally mislead and provide false information to police even if they are investigating you.
#21. I know Missouri for sure, and there are others. The MO statute says you have to be obstructing the investigation of someone else to be charged with lying to the cops or the prosecutors.
#24
Sorry, still don’t buy it. Where is the case law or precedent that backs up that claim that in Missouri you can outright lie to a police officer and/or intentionally thwart an investigation if you are not the target of the investigation?
#25. see below –
note that one must act to prevent the prosecution of “another”
(why do I know this? a friend of mine won a case on these grounds)
Hindering prosecution.
575.030. 1. A person commits the crime of hindering prosecution if for the purpose of preventing the apprehension, prosecution, conviction or punishment of another for conduct constituting a crime he:
(1) Harbors or conceals such person; or
(2) Warns such person of impending discovery or apprehension, except this does not apply to a warning given in connection with an effort to bring another into compliance with the law; or
(3) Provides such person with money, transportation, weapon, disguise or other means to aid him in avoiding discovery or apprehension; or
(4) Prevents or obstructs, by means of force, deception or intimidation, anyone from performing an act that might aid in the discovery or apprehension of such person.
2. Hindering prosecution is a class D felony if the conduct of the other person constitutes a felony; otherwise hindering prosecution is a class A misdemeanor.
http://tinyurl.com/3aaw8q
I said I would be amazed and here I sit amazed. That’s a huge loophole. It is still clear that under Missouri law you cannot lie to a prosecutor nor submit a false statement regardless of the target of the investigation. Yet, I’m shocked that you are only restricted from lying to protect another but can lie all day long to protect yourself. I would be even more amazed if that loophole remains open for much longer.
#27. Prepare to be further amazed – one of the few things that the Missouri Legislature does right is refraining from incessant tinkering with their criminal code. that law has been in effect at least since 1979, so it is probably not going anywhere soon.
Note that the related ‘concealing an offense’ crime only only covers getting someone else to do the dirty work for you, or doing it for someone else, not covering your own tracks (see below).
The American system of justice is adversarial – they have to prove you guilty and you are under no obligation to help them.
Concealing an offense.
575.020. 1. A person commits the crime of concealing an offense if:
(1) He confers or agrees to confer any pecuniary benefit or other consideration to any person in consideration of that person’s concealing of any offense, refraining from initiating or aiding in the prosecution of an offense, or withholding any evidence thereof; or
(2) He accepts or agrees to accept any pecuniary benefit or other consideration in consideration of his concealing any offense, refraining from initiating or aiding in the prosecution of an offense, or withholding any evidence thereof.
2. Concealing an offense is a class D felony if the offense concealed is a felony; otherwise concealing an offense is a class A misdemeanor.