Lawyers stand by if client indicted

The Washington at Pittsburgh game was not completed for this edition.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
With time apparently drawing down on a federal grand jury investigating potential tax evasion and perjury charges, one of Barry Bonds' attorneys said Friday a defense team stands ready to contest an indictment against the San Francisco Giants standout that could be returned as soon as next week.
Amid widespread belief that the term for the San Francisco grand jury investigating Bonds ends within days, attorney Laura Enos said in a telephone interview, "There is no assurance there's going to be an indictment. No, none."
Sandwich analogy
But if an indictment were to be returned, she said, "It's not that big a deal," explaining that position with a turn to a famous legal maxim: "If a prosecutor is motivated enough and has made a significant investment of government resources, you can indict a ham sandwich."
If charged and convicted of perjury, Bonds, 41, could face up to five years in prison. An issue for prosecutors is that any case against Bonds would come against the backdrop of the BALCO scandal, which produced convictions -- but yielded prison terms of only a few months -- for his personal trainer, Greg Anderson, BALCO founder Victor Conte and others. BALCO, or Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, is the nutritional supplement lab at the center of doping scandals in track and field as well as baseball.
The perjury investigation of Bonds, who is second on baseball's all-time home run list, revolves around his assertions that he had not used performance-enhancing substances.
Evidence in the matter includes documents from among the 30,000 pages seized as part of the BALCO matter.
Paper's claim
The San Francisco Chronicle, citing from Bonds' appearance before a federal grand jury in 2003, said prosecutors described documents believed to reflect payments for drugs for Bonds.
Other documents, the paper has reported, reflect what prosecutors believed was Bonds' doping cycle. Still others, according to the Chronicle, carry markings for Bonds' initials and the year -- "BLB 2003" -- and detail the Giants' 2003 schedule as well notations for the use of a variety of performance-enhancing drugs, including steroids.
In his December 2003 grand jury testimony, according to the Chronicle, Bonds said he never knowingly used illicit substances. He said Anderson had given him only flaxseed oil and arthritis balm.
The Chronicle reported Friday that Bonds, in a July 2003 meeting with an FBI agent and a federal prosecutor, said he had "never" used steroids.