Bonds avoids immediate indictment
DAVID KRAVETS and PAUL ELIAS
Associated Press
<!-- begin body-content -->SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds' camp had two reasons to celebrate: his 722nd home run and federal prosecutors' decision not to indict the slugger - for now - on perjury and tax-evasion charges.
Speculation has been mounting for weeks that Bonds would be indicted Thursday with the grand jury expiring. Although prosecutors wouldn't confirm the existence of a new grand jury, Mark Geragos, attorney for Bonds' personal trainer, said Greg Anderson already has been called to testify before a new panel next week.
Meanwhile, Bonds' attorney seemed to back away slightly from the slugger's earlier statements that he didn't know substances given to him by his personal trainer were steroids.
"He was suspicious in light of what he had read as to whether those were steroids or not," Michael Rains told reporters Thursday.
In 2003, Bonds testified before the original BALCO grand jury that he thought substances given to him by Anderson were arthritis balm and flaxseed oil. Authorities suspect Bonds was lying and that those items were "the clear" and "the cream" - two performance-enhancing drugs tied to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the lab exposed as a steroids supplier to top athletes in baseball, track and other sports.
But the grand jury expired Thursday without an indictment against the slugger. Midday, Anderson walked out of prison where he spent two weeks for refusing to testify against his childhood friend.
Rains called the news a "temporary relief," adding that Bonds was elated when he heard of Anderson's release and asked when the two could start working out together again.
"There comes a point in time ... where everybody needs to move on," Rains said. "We hope we have arrived at that point today."
Prosecutors, however, aren't ready to rest their case.
"We are not finished," U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan said. "We have postponed the decision (to indict) for another day in light of some recent developments."
But Geragos insists that Anderson will continue to refuse to talk, even if it means returning to prison.
"They can subpoena him every day for the rest of this year, and it doesn't matter," Geragos said. "He's not going to talk."
Allegations of steroid use long have plagued Bonds, who hit his 722nd career home run Thursday night against San Diego, but left AT&T Park without speaking to reporters. They intensified in late 2003, when he testified before the original BALCO grand jury, which took testimony from about two dozen athletes.
Although Bonds was promised immunity as long as he told the truth, doubts soon surfaced.
_His former girlfriend, Kimberly Bell, testified the slugger told her he had used steroids, according to Bell's lawyer. Bonds' attorney accused Bell of trying to extort money from Bonds and using the platform to promote a book that never was published.
_ IRS agent Jeff Novitzky, lead investigator in the steroids probe, said in court filings that BALCO founder Victor Conte told him Bonds used "the clear" on a regular basis.
_Federal agents who raided Anderson's house seized doping calendars, price lists and other documents pointing to Bonds' use of steroids and human growth hormone. Federal prosecutors say they need Anderson, in part, to interpret the calendars, which seem to spell out Bonds' schedule for using performance-enhancing drugs.
Anderson, one of five men convicted in the BALCO scandal, appears to be the key to whether perjury charges could stick against Bonds. He was sentenced to three months behind bars and three months of home confinement in October after pleading guilty to money laundering and steroid distribution.
He was called to testify before the perjury grand jury and refused. A federal judge found him in contempt of court and ordered him jailed.
"We will continue to move forward actively in this investigation - including continuing to seek the truthful testimony of witnesses whose testimony the grand jury is entitled to hear," said Luke Macaulay, a spokesman for Ryan.
Geragos argues that Anderson cannot be forced to testify because he was the victim of an illegal government wiretap and because Anderson's refusal to cooperate with government investigators is noted in his earlier plea agreement.
He also says Anderson can't trust that his testimony will be kept confidential because other BALCO grand jury testimony has been leaked to the press. Excerpts of testimony by Bonds and other key players in the case was published by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Geragos said he plans to repeat the same arguments for the new grand jury.
Joseph Russienello, the U.S. Attorney in San Francisco from 1982 to 1990, said handing the case off to a new grand jury means the federal government can lock up Anderson for the length of the new grand jury's term, which could extend beyond a year. The threat of a lengthy jail term can convince even the most intransigent witnesses to cave.
"It's no longer a two-week vacation," Russienello said. "Twelve months usually has a way of getting people sensitized to giving truthful testimony."
Without Anderson's help, prosecutors still could indict Bonds on charges alleging he failed to pay taxes on money made through sales of autographs and other memorabilia. There is also the possibility Bonds could be indicted on perjury charges without Anderson's testimony.
Major League Baseball declined to comment Thursday.
But Giants owner Peter Magowan said he hoped to see a resolution soon.
"I think all of us would like to see a resolution, I mean everybody in baseball," Magowan said. "I'm sure the commissioner would like to see one, I'm sure Barry would like to see one, and I'm sure the fans would like to see one."
