Federal Court Reverses Barry Bonds Obstruction Conviction

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Barry Bonds’s obstruction of justice conviction on Wednesday.

In 2011, a jury convicted Bonds for giving, in the words of today’s ruling, what was “a rambling, non-responsive answer to a simple question” in 2003.

When asked if trainer Greg Anderson ever gave him anything to inject himself with, Bonds discussed being a “celebrity child” and other matters seemingly extraneous to the question. The circuitous answer to a grand jury question led to the conviction eight years later.

The initial case involved the 7-time MVP and baseball’s single-season and all-time home run leader’s relationship with the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO). The group’s founder, Victor Conte, served a prison sentence for his role in distributing performance-enhancing drugs.

The San Francisco-based federal court deemed the prosecution of Bonds imprudent. The 9th Circuit Court’s reversal (PDF) contended on Wednesday, “Making everyone who participates in our justice system a potential criminal defendant for conduct that is nothing more than the ordinary tug and pull of litigation risks chilling zealous advocacy.”
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