United States District Judge Susan Illston rejected the government argument that profanity-filled voice messages proved Barry Bonds suffered from “roid rage” caused by his use of steroids. Government prosecutors had wanted to use a series of eleven voice messages left by baseball home run champion Barry Bonds for his mistress as supporting evidence of steroid use. The messages made no references to anabolic steroids or performance-enhancing drugs nor did they mention BALCO or anyone else implicated in the BALCO/baseball steroid scandal.
Judge Illston found the messages to have little relevance to Barry Bonds’ alleged steroid use.
Prosecutors said the taped messages, on which Bonds cursed and threatened former girlfriend Kimberly Bell, demonstrated that Bonds was suffering from so-called “steroid rage,” a side effect of his alleged use of banned drugs.
But at a hearing in federal court, Judge Susan Illston said the tape were “very marginal in terms of any relevance” and were “unattractive – that’s the only reason they would be used.”
She ordered prosecutors not to play them for the jury in Bonds’ trial, which begins Monday.
The government allegedly wanted to prove that Barry Bonds treated his mistress in a hostile and abusive manner and that this was necessarily caused by steroid use. Barry Bonds may be a jerk for calling his mistress a “slut” and a “bitch” but that doesn’t prove he used steroids nor does it prove steroids cause “roid rage”.
Judge Illston made the appropriate ruling by throwing out the voice messages as evidence.
Meanwhile, the rest of the country and most journalists seem to be completely snowed by the government’s steroid hysteria and propaganda campaign. However, at least a few journalists have called out the government on its patently absurd steroid witch-hunt. Here is Craig Calcaterra of MSNBC:
Unless the government is willing to submit that the only thing that ever causes people in romantic relationships to act like jerks to one another is steroids, than these recordings have no place in the case whatsoever. Any of you who have been in a relationship, however, know better. […]
These recordings are only being offered to paint Bonds as a monster on the eve of trial and to prejudice the jury pool against him. […]
This prosecution is a joke. And a sick one at that.
Hopefully, more and more journalists will wake up and see the government witch-hunt for what it is.
Photo credit: woolennium / flickr
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