|
|
[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
2 6 - 0 4 - 2 0 0 6 Bonds' personal trainer subpoenaed in perjury investigation
BOOK ALLEGES ANDERSON GAVE STEROIDS TO THE GIANTS SLUGGER
By Elliott Almond
Greg Anderson,
A spokeswoman for Anderson's attorney, J. Tony Serra,
Prosecutors have also subpoenaed James Valente,
But the recent book ''Game of Shadows''
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in San Francisco would neither
confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation, but three sources have
confirmed that Bonds' physician, Arthur Ting, The latest action signals the government's aggressive approach in its inquiry of Bonds, who is five shy of passing Babe Ruth as the No. 2 all-time home run hitter. Bonds is connected to the Balco scandal through Anderson, a childhood friend who was sentenced to a federal work camp for distributing steroids in the Balco case. The government reportedly reconvened a grand jury this spring to present evidence against Bonds, 41, who has continued to train with Anderson. Serra, Anderson's attorney, said Friday that he would confront the issue of whether Anderson will testify when it surfaced. Involved in a murder trial in San Jose, Serra could not be reached Monday night.
Bonds' attorney, Michael Rains, ``Three years after he has testified, and they indicted a bunch of other people?'' he asked, referring to the four men who accepted plea bargains in the Balco case. ``That's a little odd.'' One reason could be the publicity value in going after celebrity athletes, who make prime targets for prosecutors looking to send big-picture messages. Although most legal experts say proving perjury is difficult, lawyer, Steven F. Fishman, said he is impressed with the prosecutors' evidence against Bonds. Fishman said if the documents reported in the media are true, ``I can't imagine a scenario where he would not be prosecuted. If he never made any admission that he used steroids knowingly, how can they not indict him?'' Fishman said no witness carries as much weight as the documents Balco investigators uncovered. Investigators found folders stuffed with calendars that appeared to contain details of steroid administration to baseball players by dates, according to court records made public in October 2004. Confronted with the material, Bonds told the grand jury that he did not know what Anderson had given him. ``All defense lawyers will say, `Give me the human,' '' Fishman said. ``You can't cross-examine a piece of paper.'' He also said the government must show that the statements Bonds made were relevant to the Balco case. ``If that's the lie he told and stuck to, then did he impede the investigation?'' Fishman added. 0 6 - 0 7 - 2 0 0 6 Bonds' Trainer Ordered Jailed For Contempt
AP Barry Bonds' personal trainer was held in contempt of court and taken to prison Wednesday for refusing to testify to the federal grand jury investigating the San Francisco Giants' slugger for perjury.
Greg Anderson, who served three months in prison after pleading guilty last year for his role in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative steroid scandal, was led out of U.S. District Judge William Alsup's courtroom by two deputy U.S. marshals. He will be housed at the Federal Correctional Institution in nearby Dublin, but his stay may be short. That's because Anderson will be set free once the grand jury's term expires, which will occur within weeks, Alsup said. Anderson was initially ordered in March to testify to the grand jury investigating whether Bonds perjured himself when he testified to the original BALCO grand jury in December 2003 that he never knowingly used steroids or other banned performance enhancing drugs. "Every person, even the President of the United States as held by the Supreme Court, has to give testimony," Alsup said in ordering Anderson to prison. Alsup denied Anderson's request for bail or to remain free while his attorney, Mark Geragos, appeals the decision. "You have done a masterful job of postponing this day of reckoning," the judge told Geragos, "and if you wait a few more weeks, the grand jury will go away." Geragos said Anderson won't testify and will be released once the grand jury's term expires. While Geragos, the federal prosecutor and the judge all hearing the case said the grand jury's term will expire soon, all declined to comment exactly when that will be. Geragos said outside of court that "there are things in your refrigerator" with a longer shelf life than the grand jury's term. The Giants said Bonds would have no comment on the development. Bonds' attorney, Michael Rains, did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment. Geragos argued that Anderson shouldn't have to testify because of the numerous leaks about grand jury testimony in the original BALCO case have made their way into print and a book by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters. "Jail is not going to have any coercive effect," Geragos said outside federal court. "He is not going to cooperate with a grand jury that is leaking like a sieve." He also said that Anderson's agreement with the government that led to his guilty plea included language that stated he didn't have to cooperate with the investigation.
He further argued that the entire perjury investigation has been tainted by a
tape recording
Federal prosecutor Matthew Parella argued in court Wednesday that the grand jury
needs Anderson's assistance in, among other things, interpreting calendars "All things that need to be explained by the person who created these markings," Parella said of the calendar investigators seized from Anderson's house in 2003. Parella also told the judge that government doesn't believe the tape made by Anderson's associate was illegally obtained, but promised not to use evidence gleaned from it in questioning Anderson. Parella declined to comment outside court. "Given Mr. Anderson's refusal to testify despite the court's order to do so, we believe the court imposed the appropriate sanction," U.S. attorney spokesman Luke Macaulay said in an e-mail statement. Anderson's attorney said his client's refusal to cooperate is not meant to protect Bonds, a childhood friend. "If it was about protecting Barry, he wouldn't have entered into a plea," Geragos said. "This is nothing more than piling on." 2 8 - 0 7 - 2 0 0 6 Bonds' Personal Trainer Leaves Court
By PAUL ELIAS and
DAVID KRAVETS SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds' personal trainer shuttled between secret grand jury hearings and closed-door appearances before a judge. Then he left federal court without commenting on whether he complied with orders to testify against his childhood friend in a perjury and tax evasion probe. Lawyers for Greg Anderson had promised that he would not testify and would fight the subpoena, even if it meant going back to prison for a third time. Anderson's two appearances Thursday before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White, who barred the public from entering, suggested that he followed through on his vow of silence, and that White postponed his imprisonment pending a legal fight. A similar scenario played out in June, leading up to Anderson's July 5 incarceration for two weeks after he declined to testify before a different grand jury investigating the San Francisco Giants slugger. Authorities are investigating whether Bonds lied under oath when he told an earlier grand jury he didn't know whether the substances given to him by Anderson were steroids. The probe also reportedly is focused on whether Bonds paid taxes on the sale of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of sports memorabilia. Anderson's next legal move wasn't immediately known. The trainer declined to comment as he entered the grand jury room just before 9 a.m. with attorney Matthew Geragos. The two again declined comment when they emerged about 90 minutes later and entered a nearby courtroom for the first closed-door hearing before White. Anderson returned to the grand jury room around 2 p.m., and minutes later was back in White's courtroom for another sealed hearing. He later left without commenting to about a dozen reporters outside. Anderson was released from prison last week on the same day prosecutors announced a grand jury investigating Bonds had expired without issuing an indictment. A new grand jury quickly was assembled, and Anderson received what was believed to be the first subpoena -- ordering him to appear before the panel Thursday. "They're harassing Greg Anderson to get to Barry," said Bonds' attorney, Michael Rains, in a recent interview. If Anderson again refused to testify, the judge is likely to find him in contempt of court and send him back to prison. By law, an intransigent Anderson can be locked up for the full term of the new grand jury, which can stay in session for as long as 18 months. A judge, however, can free him sooner if convinced Anderson never will talk. Anderson previously served three months after pleading guilty to steroid distribution and money laundering stemming from the government's investigation of the Bay Area lab that allegedly supplied Bonds and other elite athletes with performance-enhancing drugs. Some legal experts see Anderson as the key to proving the perjury allegations, since Bonds reportedly testified that the Anderson gave him two substances that fit the description of "the cream" and "the clear" -- two performance-enhancing drugs linked to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. In 2003, Bonds reportedly testified to the grand jury investigating BALCO that he believed the substances were flaxseed oil and arthritis balm, not steroids. Anderson also could offer insight into the doping calendars bearing Bonds' name that were seized when federal agents raided Anderson's house, according to court papers connected to the steroids probe. But Anderson's lawyers say he shouldn't have to testify because of the numerous leaks of secret grand jury testimony to the San Francisco Chronicle during the course of the four-year investigation. Chronicle reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada have written a book based largely on leaked testimony. "The gross, callous and destructive breaches of grand jury secrecy in this case create ample just cause for Mr. Anderson's refusal to testify," said one of Anderson's attorneys, Mark Geragos, who's Matthew's brother. His lawyers also say the agreement he made with prosecutors to plead guilty last year in the BALCO case stipulated he wouldn't have to cooperate in the investigation. |
|
|
