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Judge: Bonds jury won’t hear tape
AP
Photo
Former baseball player Barry Bonds, left, leaves federal court in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 5, 2011. Prosecutors rested their case against Bonds in his perjury trial Tuesday.
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO
Prosecutors rested their case against Barry Bonds on Tuesday as the judge turned down their late bid to get a newly discovered audio tape of two key witnesses heard by the jury.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston refused to let the panel listen to a tape recording of a conversation between Bonds’ orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Arthur Ting, and his former business partner, Steve Hoskins.
Prosecutors had hoped to use the recording to win back some of the momentum they lost last week when Ting directly contradicted Hoskins, who was a star witness and claimed the pair had repeatedly discussed the home run king and steroids.
Illston, however, said much of the tape was inaudible, and what could be heard was irrelevant and inadmissible.
Prosecutors finished presenting their evidence by having court staff read a transcript of Bonds’ December 2003 grand jury testimony.
The former baseball star is charged with three counts of lying during that court appearance when he denied knowingly taking steroids and human growth hormone. He is also charged with one count of lying when he testified that only Ting has ever injected him with any substance and one count of obstruction.
Bonds lawyer Allen Ruby said there was a chance the slugger could testify today.
Earlier Tuesday four lab employees testified about the handling and testing of Bonds urine samples collected in 2003. One of those samples later yielded a positive test for THG, which is also known as “the clear.”
Prosecutors’ task has been to prove that Bonds knew he was taking performance-enhancing drugs when he was breaking the single season home run mark in 2001 and Hank Aaron’s career home run mark, which he did in 2007.