SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge wants to know if Barry Bonds’ personal trainer intends to stick to his decision not to testify at the slugger’s upcoming steroids trial.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston wants Greg Anderson to appear at a special hearing next week to determine if he is following through on his vow of silence.
Anderson has indicated through his attorney that he will refuse — a decision that likely will put him back in jail.
Illston ruled late Thursday that three positive steroids tests, so-called doping calendars and other evidence are inadmissible at Bonds’ scheduled March 2 trial because Anderson — the one person who can tie the slugger to the incriminating evidence — has vowed not to testify.
Prosecutors would be barred from using the evidence unless they appeal Illston’s ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Nedrow declined comment on whether the government planned an appeal.
An appeal would delay the start of Bonds’ trial for several weeks or longer, and there is no guarantee the government would prevail.
Though prosecutors have lost key evidence in their efforts to convict Barry Bonds, who’s accused of lying to a grand jury when he denied knowingly taking performance-enhancing drugs, legal analysts said Friday the slugger still faces major hurdles to acquittal.
Columbia University law professor Daniel Richman said Illston’s ruling was “thoughtful and well-considered.”
“It’s a careful opinion on the kind of issue that appellate courts are likely to defer decision to a trial court,” Richman said.
If Illston’s ruling does ultimately stand, the government’s case against Bonds has suffered a significant blow — but not a fatal one, legal analysts said.
“Scientific evidence just resonates with a jury,” said Howard Wasserman, who teaches evidence at Florida International University College of Law and writes about sports law. “When you lose that, the way the case will be perceived doesn’t look quite as strong.”
Without the tests, prosecutors have a much bigger hurdle to overcome in proving Bonds not only used performance-enhancing drugs but that he did so knowingly.
Wasserman and others said that without the tests and other evidence, much of the government’s case will come down to the credibility of the prosecution’s witnesses.
Prosecutors said in a Feb. 13 filing that they plan to call Bonds’ former personal shopper Kathy Hoskins to testify that she saw Anderson inject the former San Francisco Giants star. The filing did not say whether she believed the syringe contained steroids, but her testimony could be crucial because one of the counts against Bonds alleges that he lied to the grand jury when he said no one but his doctor ever injected him with anything.
“The net effect is that Bonds is better off with this ruling, but it wasn’t a slam dunk victory for Bonds,” said Vermont Law School professor Michael McCann who contributes to the Sports Law Blog. “Kathy Hoskins is a very significant witness.”
Hoskins is the sister of Bonds’ former personal assistant Steve Hoskins, who secretly taped a conversation he had with Anderson in front of Bonds’ locker in San Francisco in March 2003. Anderson seemed to discuss injecting Bonds with steroids.
The judge said she would allow jurors to consider a partial transcript of that conversation.
Another potential concern for Bonds is the testimony of his former girlfriend Kim Bell, who prosecutors say will testify about mental and physical changes she saw the slugger go through during the period he is alleged to have used steroids.
Bonds attorneys have asked the judge to bar much of Bell’s testimony.
Illston ordered prosecutors to file under seal as much of Bell’s testimony they anticipate from her and the judge said she will decide later on what to admit.
Former federal prosecutor Jonathan Howden, now a defense attorney, said the testimony of Jason Giambi and six other former baseball players connected to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative also will be compelling. Former teammate Bobby Estalella is expected to testify that Bonds told him of his drug use, while the others will discuss their relationship with Anderson, who pleaded guilty in 2005 to steroids distribution.
“The government is going to feel bad that its case has taken a hit, but there is still potentially very valuable evidence,” Howden said. “You always have to take all the evidence collectively.”
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