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 UPDATE: Due to the redundant nature of the charges, there has been confusion in the media as to how many counts were dismissed. Bloomberg had it at five. Others, have it at three. We are going to say four, with a break down of the counts dismissed as reported by USA Today.
A U.S. District Court judge today threw out four of 14 charges against former MLB player and current all-time home run leader, Barry Bonds. Bonds is charged with perjury and obstructing justice as part of the BALCO investigation. U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco ruled Monday that the charges were vague or redundant. The judge denied throwing out four other perjury charges against Bonds. As reported by Bloomberg News: Bonds was charged with making false statements to a grand jury in 2003 when he denied taking performance-enhancing drugs. He was originally charged last year with four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice. A new indictment in May accused Bonds, 44, of 14 false statements after Illston said the original counts were flawed because they alleged more than one lie.
The case is U.S. v Barry Bonds, 07-732, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco). The counts dismissed were: • Count No. 2: Deals with Bonds' denial that he tested positive for steroids or was taking performance-enhancing drugs in November 2000. Illston said in her decision that this count was ambiguous. "(The) defendant's response to this statement cannot sustain a perjury conviction," Illston wrote. • Count Nos. 6 or 7: Illston wrote that these two charges were redundant. They related to Bonds' testimony about whether he'd received human growth hormone from his friend and personal trainer Greg Anderson. The defense had been in favor of combining the two counts. • Count No. 8: Relates to Bonds' testimony about whether he'd received "the clear," an anabolic steroid that was undetectable by anti-doping tests at the time, in January 2002. Illston ruled that this count overlapped with another that dealt with Bonds' testimony about what transpired a month prior. "It is not sufficiently distinct to be considered a separate (count)," Illston wrote. • Count No. 14: Bonds testified that he couldn't recall if he had received "flax seed oil stuff" — which prosecutors claim is "the clear" — in January 2002. "The problem is that defendant's answer is so unclear that it is essentially impossible to parse," Illston wrote. Bonds has plead not guilty to all charges.
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