Barry Bonds Trial: Star Convicted of Obstruction of Justice for 'Evasive' Answer
Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants Legend, has had his conviction of federal obstruction of justice upheld today Sept. 13 in an appeals court.
Back in 2011, Barry Bonds was on trial to determine if he had used performance-enhancing drugs. During that trial Bonds was asked if his trainer had "ever give you anything that required a syringe to inject yourself with?"
Instad of simply saying yes or no, or even directly responding to the question, Bonds said many things in a meandering, long-winded answer, mentioning the fact that his father was a celebrity.
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This long-winded answer has been determined misleading and Bonds' conviction of obstruction of justice stands.
Judge Mary M. Schroeder wrote her opion stating why she found Bonds guilty of obstructing justice.
"While Bonds was a celebrity child, that fact was unrelated to the question, which asked whether Anderson provided Bonds with any self-injectable substances. When factually true statements are misleading or evasive, they can prevent the grand jury from obtaining truthful and responsive answers. They may therefore obstruct and impede the administration of justice," the judge wrote.
In further explaination, Judge Schroeder went on to say that Bonds' answer to the question about drugs served to mislead the grad jury.
The answer "served to divert the grand jury's attention away from the relevant inquiry of the investigation, which was Anderson and BALCO's distribution of steroids and PEDs. The statement was therefore evasive," Judge Schroeder wrote.
The lawyer prosecuting Bonds, Melinda Haag, was pleased with the decision.
"We believe justice is served," the U.S. Attorney said.
