Clemens trial goes to jury

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Roger Clemens’ fate is in the hands of a jury that will decide if the former pitcher lied about performance-enhancing substances.

The panel of eight women and four men began deliberations Tuesday after a day of closing arguments in the ninth week of the trial.

Clemens is charged with lying when he told Congress in 2008 that he never used steroids and human growth hormone.

The trial’s key witness was Clemens’ longtime strength coach. Brian McNamee spent a week on the stand and said he injected Clemens with both steroids and HGH.

Clemens’ lawyers spent much of the trial attacking McNamee’s credibility and did so again during their final statements to the jury.

The prosecution conceded in its closing that McNamee is a “flawed man.”

Both sides received two hours to sum up their arguments.

“He chose to lie, he chose to mislead, he chose to provide false statements, to impede Congress’ legitimate investigation,” prosecutor Gil Guerrero said. “Now it’s your turn to hold him accountable on every single count. You are the final umpires here.”

Clemens is charged with perjury, making false statements and obstructing Congress. The heart of the charges center on his repeated denials that he used steroids or human growth hormone.

“When you take that oath, you’ve got to tell the truth,” Guerrero said in a packed courtroom that included Clemens’ wife and four sons.

Guerrero accused Clemens of coming up with a “cover story” about the injections received from his former strength coach. Clemens told Congress the injections were for vitamin B12 and the local anesthetic lidocaine.

Guerrero said Clemens, one of the most successful pitchers of his generation and a winner of an unprecedented seven Cy Young Awards, told the lies “so as not to tarnish his name.”