Barry Bonds Faces 14 Counts Of Perjury: 5-13-08
The U.S. attorney's office filed 14 counts of perjury and one count of obstruction against Barry Bonds on Tuesday.
The filing was first reported by ESPN's T.J. Quinn.
The counts were filed in what's known as a superseding indictment that broke up the four counts that baseball's all-time home run king was charged with in November.
The new indictment was issued in response to a prior ruling by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, who agreed with a defense motion that the initial indictment was potentially vague and ambiguous. The primary point was that the government charged several different lies in single counts, presenting potential problems for a jury.
This indictment alleges no new lies and doesn't suggest Bonds could serve additional time if found guilty. The next hearing in the case is skedded for June 6.
In March, the perjury case against Bonds was put on hold for three months, with prosecutors telling a federal judge they plan to obtain a new indictment against him.
The Indictment
The government added counts to Barry Bonds' indictment in his perjury case related to grand jury testimony on performance-
enhancing drugs. Check out the actual text. Bonds indictment (pdf)
Illston had told prosecutors on Feb. 29 to fix their original indictment. Illston said that prosecutors needed to drop some of the allegations from the indictment or add more charges.
Eight people connected to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) have pleaded guilty, including track star Marion Jones, who began a six-month sentence in federal prison on March 7. Jones pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators when she denied using performance-enhancing drugs and admitted lying to investigators about her association with a check-fraud scheme.
Bonds was indicted in November on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice, stemming from 2003 grand-jury testimony in which he denied knowingly taking illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
Bonds was let go by the San Francisco Giants this offseason. The 43-year-old outfielder remains a free agent and wants to play this year.
