Clemens denied compensation for mistrial

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Roger Clemens won’t be getting back the money he spent on his first perjury trial, the one that ended in a mistrial.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton on Tuesday denied the former pitcher’s request for fees and other costs associated with the trial that ended abruptly last July when prosecutors showed jurors a snippet of videotaped evidence that had been previously ruled inadmissible.

Walton said last fall that “it doesn’t seem fair” for Clemens to pay for the government’s mistake, but the judge’s ruling found that the law doesn’t allow for such compensation because it wasn’t shown that the prosecutors deliberately introduced the barred evidence.

Clemens was charged with lying to Congress when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs. He was retried this year and found not guilty on all counts.

“Because it finds that the government’s misconduct was not so severe as to warrant financial sanctions, the court need not resolve the question of whether it possesses the authority to grant the defendant’s motion and order the government to compensate the defendant for the expenses he incurred in preparation for his first trial,” Walton wrote in his ruling.

Clemens, charged with six counts of perjury, was retried this year and found not guilty on all counts. Prosecutors said he lied to Congress during a 2008 hearing when he denied using steroids or human growth hormone.

Nicknamed “The Rocket,” Clemens played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball and was one of the most dominant pitchers in history.

He earned 354 win and 4,672 strikeouts — third-most all time.

Clemens was an 11-time All-Star who won seven Cy Young awards.