Steroids in Sports

Major League Baseball home run king Barry Bonds has a fear of needles according to testimony by his orthopedic surgeon at his perjury trial on Friday. Bonds dislike of having  blood drawn for medical tests was so severe that he required small shots of novocaine prior to the procedure according to Dr. Arthur Ting. Most bodybuilders and veteran steroid users find such fears laughable among newcomers in the steroid subculture .

The defense is likely to use Bonds fear of needles to create reasonable doubt among the jury that Bonds was the recipient of any injections for non-medical purposes. The government believes that Bonds committed perjury when he told a 2003 grand jury investigating BALCO that he never received any injections from his personal trainer or anyone else other than a medical professional. The defense will their work cut out for them after Bonds’ former personal shopper provided eyewitness testimony that she observed Bonds receiving an injection from Greg Anderson; the likeable Kathy Hoskins made a very favorable impression on most observers in the courtroom and most likely the jury as well. [Read more…]

The government may not call former baseball player Bobby Estalella to testify against homerun king Barry Bonds in his perjury trial. Estalella is the only baseball player on the government’s witness list with direct knowledge of Barry Bonds’ steroid use. Estalella was once identified as the “poster boy of the chemicals” in the “Mitchell Report” (officially known as the “Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball”).

The government’s apparent decision to scrap Estalella from the witness list is somewhat surprising as many observers felt that he could provide the “most damaging testimony” regarding Barry Bonds awareness of knowingly using anabolic steroids. Bonds has stated under oath that he never knowingly used anabolic steroids.

According to court documents, Estalella, unlike other baseball players testifying, was expected to testify that Bonds “admitted using performance-enhancing drugs and that had several discussions regarding that topic” with him. [Read more…]

Four current and former Major League Baseball players have testified that they received performance-enhancing drugs from Barry Bonds personal trainer. The government hopes that the baseball players’ testimony will help convince a jury that Barry Bonds lied to a 2003 grand jury when he told them he did not knowingly use anabolic steroids or human growth hormone (hGH).

Colorado Rockies Jason Giambi,  former San Francisco Giants Marvin Benard, former Oakland A’s players Jeremy Giambi and Randy Velarde testified that they received steroids and hGH from Greg Anderson, Bonds’ personal trainer. None of the four players testifying had direct knowledge of Bonds use of performance-enhancing drugs. The government hopes they can plant the idea of guilt by association in the mind of the jury. [Read more…]

As the first week of the Barry Bonds perjury trial comes to an end, increasing number of newspaper columnists have started criticizing the government for its witch-hunt of Bonds. The pursuit of Barry Bonds is not only a colossal waste of taxpayer funds but also fundamentally misguided in its pursuit of so-called justice.

Sally Jenkins, of the Washington Post, is one of the few journalists who has consistently been critical of the steroid hysteria that has permeated American culture over the past decade. She has been an outspoken critique of the government’s witch-hunt and its pursuit of celebrity athletes. Jenkins recently penned an article that not only condemned the prosecution of Barry Bonds but also the “overcriminalization” of steroid laws. [Read more…]

The federal government is doing everything is can to convince a California jury that former baseball superstar Barry Bonds knowingly used anabolic steroids and lied about it under oath during his grand jury testimony. The long-awaited Bonds perjury trial, officially named the United States of America v. Barry Bonds, begins next week. The prosecution’s case against Bonds isn’t particularly strong for a federal case but after spending over $60 million pursuing Bonds in their witch-hunt, they can’t very well give up now.

The government had counted on the testimony of Greg Anderson, Bonds’ long-time friend and personal trainer, as being the crucial nail in the coffin for a conviction of Bonds. They didn’t count on Anderson’s refusal to give into the government’s shameful intimidation tactics and his willingness to go to jail rather than testify in the witch-hunt against Bonds.

Prosecutors are hoping they can convince the jury of guilt by association since Anderson provided steroids to other players. [Read more…]

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.  [Read more…]