Judge declares mistrial in case against Clemens

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

One minute Roger Clemens was on trial for his freedom. Then, on just the second day of testimony, it was suddenly all over and the former baseball star was outside signing autographs for fans.

Almost as soon as it began, Clemens’ perjury trial ended Thursday — in a mistrial the judge blamed on prosecutors and said a “first-year law student” would have known to avoid.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton left the question of a new trial up in the air. But he called a halt to the trial under way after prosecutors showed jurors evidence that he had ruled out — videotaped revelations that a teammate had said he’d told his wife Clemens confessed to using a drug.

Walton scolded prosecutors and said he couldn’t let the former All-Star pitcher face prison if convicted on such “extremely prejudicial” evidence.

“Mr. Clemens has to get a fair trial,” Walton said. “In my view, he can’t get it now.”

Defense attorney Rusty Hardin, who had asked for the mistrial declaration, patted an unsmiling Clemens on the back as the judge announced his decision. As he left the courthouse, Clemens did not comment but accepted hugs from a couple of court workers, shook hands with the security guards and autographed baseballs for fans waiting outside.

The quick end on only the second day of testimony was the second mistrial involving a former star player accused in baseball’s steroids scandal. Home run king Barry Bonds was convicted three months ago of obstruction of justice, but a mistrial was called on three more serious false-statements charges after jurors couldn’t agree on a verdict.

Walton said he would hold a hearing Sept. 2 to decide whether Clemens should face another trial. Hardin told reporters, “I wouldn’t even hazard a guess” about what Walton will decide.

Walton could end the prosecution by declaring that a new trial would run afoul of double jeopardy — the right not to be brought to trial twice on the same charges for the same offense. But experts said it was unlikely that he would go that far, especially since the trial was just under way.

“Generally speaking, mistrial does not bar a trial of the defendant when the defendant requested the mistrial,” said Harry Sandick, a former prosecutor who now defends white-collar cases. He said a judge may make an exception for misconduct on the part of prosecutors, but this appears to have been a simple yet devastating mistake.

“How could the government not have reviewed each piece of evidence after the court’s pretrial rulings?” he said. “This is crucially important, and prosecutors have to do this all the time.”