Barry Bonds Pleads Not Guilty

Home Run King Faces Perjury, Obstruction Charges Surrounding Steroid Investigation

(CBS/AP)  Barry Bonds pleaded not guilty Friday to charges he lied to federal investigators about using performance-enhancing drugs.

The home run king's arraignment in U.S. District Court marked his first public appearance since a Nov. 15 indictment charging him with four counts of perjury and one of obstruction of justice.

He said very little but appeared relaxed, standing with his hands behind his back while listening to the charges being read against him, reports CBS News correspondent Steve Futterman.

If he's convicted of all five charges he could spend more than two years in prison.

Most legal experts believe the most Bonds would serve is around 30 months, reports Futterman.

Bonds and his wife, Liz, stepped from a black sport-utility vehicle and waded through a crush of television cameras, reporters and onlookers as they entered the Phillip Burton Federal Building. Wearing a dark blue suit and tie, Bonds went through the metal detectors and waved to the crowd before stepping into the courthouse elevator and heading to the 19th floor for the hearing.

Prosecutors allege Bonds repeatedly lied when he testified under oath that he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs.

Several of Bonds' former associates are expected to contradict that testimony, and prosecutors claim to have a blood test from November 2000 that shows a "Barry B" testing positive for two types of steroids.

But for all the speculation and accusations that hung over him as he chased Hank Aaron's milestone, Bonds has never been identified by Major League Baseball as testing positive for steroids.

Several former San Francisco Giants teammates and other players, including Detroit Tiger Gary Sheffield and New York Yankee Jason Giambi also could testify if the case goes to trial, which wouldn't start until late next year at the earliest.

Bonds' defense team is expected to attack the credibility of the witnesses, who include Bonds' former mistress and a one-time business partner who had a bitter split with the slugger over memorabilia sales. Legal experts say the reliability of the drug test, seized during a raid of the BALCO steroids lab, also will be subject to fierce scrutiny by Bonds' lawyers.

The media spectacle at the federal courthouse began Thursday afternoon when television trucks with satellite dishes began to ring the block-long building.

The 10-page indictment charging Bonds mainly consists of excerpts from his December 2003 testimony before a grand jury investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, or BALCO. It cites 19 occasions in which Bonds allegedly lied under oath.

Bonds' personal trainer Greg Anderson spent most of the last year in jail for refusing to testify against his longtime friend. Anderson was released hours after the indictment was unsealed Nov. 15, and his attorneys said he didn't cooperate with the grand jury. They also say he will refuse to testify at Bonds' trial, making it possible that prosecutors will again ask a judge to send him back to prison on contempt charges.

"I fully expect the government to start ratcheting up the pressure on Greg," said Anderson's attorney, Mark Geragos. "He will never cooperate with the government. He doesn't trust them."

At the end of the 2003 season, Bonds said, Anderson rubbed some cream on his arm that the trainer said would help him recover. Anderson also gave him something he called "flax seed oil," Bonds said.

Bonds then testified that before the 2003 season, he never took anything supplied by Anderson - which the indictment alleges was a lie because the doping calendars seized from Anderson's house were dated 2001.

Bonds long has been shadowed by allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs. The son of former big league star Bobby Bonds, he broke into the majors with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1986 as a lithe, base-stealing outfielder.

By the late 1990s, he'd bulked up to more than 240 pounds - his head, in particular, becoming noticeably bigger. His physical growth was accompanied by a remarkable power surge.

He joins a parade of defendants tied to the BALCO investigation, including Anderson, who served three months in prison and three months of home detention after pleading guilty to steroid distribution and money laundering.

BALCO founder Victor Conte also served three months in prison after he pleaded guilty to steroids distribution.

Bonds is by far the highest-profile figure caught up in the steroids probe, which also ensnared track star Marion Jones. She pleaded guilty in October to lying to federal investigators about using steroids and faces up to six months in prison.

Late Thursday, the San Jose Mercury News reported that Bonds has added attorneys Cristina Arguedas and Allen Ruby to his legal team. Unlike his current attorney, Michael Rains, the two new lawyers have extensive federal experience.

Arguedas represented Tim Montgomery, a track star who testified before the Balco grand jury. Based on leaked grand jury testimony, the San Francisco Chronicle has reported that Montgomery testified that former Balco President Victor Conte told him he supplied Bonds with steroids.

Conte has publicly denied knowledge of Bonds getting steroids from Balco, the newspaper reported.

Arguedas has represented executives in a host of high-profile white collar crime cases, including former Hewlett-Packard general counsel Ann Baskins in the company's boardroom spying scandal.

[lloydbest1]

Warning!! Off topic.
It is an unfortunate truth that ANYtime there is a black/white or even a black/non black interaction, particularly if it is advesarial; race, rather than the interaction, quickly becomes the central theme. From there on skin color becomes the obsession and the subject at hand is quickly made irrelevant. Sad, that.
Back to the subject:
Barry is far from the only one. Raphael Palmiero, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, the Giambi''s, Wally Joyner....the list is long.
Here''s another short list. Lyle Alzado, Chris Benoit; just the ones I know about. I hope this one doesn''t get any longer.

[hissteps4u]

He will be convicted and should be Banned for Life just Like Pete Rose and have His record taken away. The Jerk Lies through His teeth. NOT THAT I AM AWARE OF!!!! give us a break you knew it all along and thats why you have lied about it to protect your butt.

I hope he gets the book tossed at Him...

[valentin73]

Hey Bonds, If you know you did it, and we all know you did, why are beating around the bush. C''mon golden boy, step up to the plate, its your time to swing. The count is three balls: two stikes: bottom of the ninth. Let''s go baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[edward1975-2009]

He admitted to the grand jury he has taken steroids, but claimed he didn''t know what he ws doing. This guy is as phony as they come, but realize too this is just the tip of the iceberg.

[keithle1]

Roast in H E L L, Barry Boy.

[horse63]

Barry Bonds has always been a jerk, egomaniac, and a racist. What goes around, comes around, and he always shunned the media, so now the media will do him in. When he was with the Pirates, he couldn''t get along with Jim Leland, if you can''t get along with Jim, then you''re a jerk. Enough said!

[Redoubt]

Even if symbolically, the Bonds indictment sent a message to all the egos that infest professional sports.

As a nation, we can now choose to strive for honesty and integrity or we can cheer for exceptional drugs... instead of exceptional athletes.

Barry did this to himself.

[kailumego1]

animalwoman "it''s about ethics", it''s about ethics to say I hate someone because they took steroids to buttress a game, no, that sounds grotesquely insane.

So, what he took steroids, strip him of his title, but send him to jail, you people are insane.

Prisons are overcrowded enough as it is and to contribute to this nonsense..

This man should not go to jail for using steroids to "pump-up" for a game..

Throw him off the team, fine him, but send him to jail, it is about race, if you people think he should go to jail for this BULL SHI@.

Send Vick to jail, he deserved it, or anybody else black, white, green or purple, if they committed an assault, on person, animal, etc., but for this nonsense, you people are "CRAZY"..

[realtalk5950]

Oh and the teacher wasn''t even that good looking...she looked like a skinny little albino chick. She looks like a ghost, haunting this website she is so pale.

[realtalk5950]

"Yo umust be some kind of f@ggot ramming f u d g e p a c k e r to think that 14 year old boy was raped by that hottie!!!!"
posted by yur2stupid

I didn''t say he didn''t like it......but still it''s illegal the same...

[realtalk5950]

The fact that this is even in the news is stupid. It''s like, "We can''t get him on any actual crime, so lets get him on lying to us". This is just like OJ only OJ is less intelligent than Bonds.

[yur2stupid]

Teacher rapes a 14 yr old male student of hers -gets probabtion and "house arrest"
Posted by RealTalk5950

Yo umust be some kind of f@ggot ramming f u d g e p a c k e r to think that 14 year old boy was raped by that hottie!!!!

[pastdue1]

Barry Bonds has most certainly let his fans down. However, when weigh his steroid crime (homeruns) against the steroid crimes (massacre) of the Blackwater security forces: one gets indicted, the others get a free pass because of where they were and who they know and who a trial would implicate. All have been overpaid.

[denn034]

If you believe Bonds, then, I''ve got some prime swampland in Florida to sell you.

[excoachken]

For Barry Bonds to be seen as a victim, a person would have to ignore the fact that, as the son of a major league star, he was a child of privilege raise in San Francisco luxury, far more advantaged that most any child, African American or of any other race. Hank Aaron, on the other hand, started out as a poor child raised in the deep south in some of the most difficult times. As a young player, he was a contemporary of Jackie Robinson, when ethnic slurs were commonly heard from the opposing bench. To try to equate Bonds record with Aaron is tragically superficial and blatantly unfair.

[realtalk5950]

Michael Vick = charged with dog fighting - could face 15 years in prison

Teacher rapes a 14 yr old male student of hers -gets probabtion and "house arrest"

Judicial system is a joke...

[animalwoman-2009]

krenz4 - what has the persons color got to do with this??? Even if he was white or spanish it would be just as bad for them. Why does everyone always have to make a race issue out of everything? It''s about ethics - is he telling a lie or not. If he''s not telling the truth then he deserves what he gets. If he''s telling the truth they need to leave him alone.

[animalwoman-2009]

Do you think sports figures will ever learn. I can''t see how making a name for yourself or mega bucks is worth ruining your health and reputation. Fame and money can''t do anything for you if you''re dead and buried.

[excoachken]

Krenz: Just a couple of therapy sessions and I''m sure you could work this out.

[thinkharder-]

this is about a black man who is about to walk away with a much revered title and American just cant have that.
Posted by krenz4

OK...but, if Bond''s loses his HR totals title, who does it get returned to, and what color is he?