I suppose we can be thankful they are both so arrogant they would never take a plea. The question is whether or not there’s a strong enough case to convict, and I still think that looks dicey.
It looks like he was just found guilty of Obstruction Of Justice, and the jury was deadlocked on the perjury charges…
Don’t know what kind of sentence he will be looking at.
Interesting. If a mistrial is declared and there are still 3 charges pending against Bonds, I’m guessing that means that Anderson can rot in jail even longer if the prosecution decides it wants to retry Barry on the deadlocked charges. That would be funny if they got Bonds guilty on one charge AND they get to keep Anderson in jail if he continues to refuse to testify.
The reporter for NBC News who is covering the Bond’s story just said that he anticipates an 18-month prison sentence on the Obstruction count, so I guess the judge is trying to make a statement, which seems OK to me…
I think it’ll get overturned on appeal as an inconsistent verdict. They couldn’t agree that he had flat out lied to a grand jury, but they get him on obstruction of justice for some misleading and evasive testimony. That’s weak and looks like a jury compromise.
I really doubt it. Had they come back not guilty on the perjury and guilty on the obstruction, you might possibly, if you look at it from far away into the setting sun, you might have a point. But a hung jury and one guilty count isn’t inconsistent at all. Of course I paid next to no attention to the trial, so there is that.
The four counts (three of perjury and one of obstruction) were for four different statements that Bonds made to the grand jury. Even if Bonds had been acquitted of the three perjury charges, the obstruction conviction wouldn’t have been inconsistent because each charge was for a different statement.
Also, someone can commit obstruction of justice merely by being evasive or misleading. Perjury involves a direct lie that affects the outcome of an investigation. In Bonds’ case, the obstruction charge was for a rambling, non-responsive answer he gave to the grand jury to a question about receiving drugs that required a syringe. He didn’t lie, but he didn’t answer the question, either. The jury decided that this was enough to make him guilty of obstruction of justice.
SI’s legal expert say the sentencing guideline for that count is 18 to 30 months, but he doesn’t expect Bonds to get that much - his guess was four to six months. Bonds doesn’t have a prior criminal record and the same judge who presided over this case has handled over cases related to BALCO. When Trevor Graham and Tammy Thomas were convicted of perjury, she sentenced them to home confinement. A different judge sentences Marion Jones to six months in jail and two years of probation.
Yeah, but I think since it was Bonds who was the target of the investigation, and who’s actions were the root cause of his trainer going to jail rather than testify against him, the judge may rightly feel that he should receive a more severe punishment, as a future deterrent and as a lesson to Barry Bonds that he is not above the law.
A good solid year in a Federal lock-up might be just the ticket to shrink that Giant’s ego…