Barry Bonds officially out of the woods in obstruction of justice case

[On the week’s StewPod: The secrets of ‘Major League, ‘ our favorite baseball movie.].

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in April said prosecutors did not provide enough evidence that his statements were material to their investigation, and that Bonds could not be retried for obstruction.

“There’s no question that the world paid attention to this case, so win, lose or draw, any potential steroid abusers saw that there’s a chance of getting tangled in the court system”, he said.

The DOJ has determined that the reversal won’t be challenged within the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bonds was charged with lying to a federal grand jury about his performance-enhancing drug use back in 2007. An 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that conviction in April, and the government had until Wednesday to file for a Supreme Court review.

Even though Bonds’ charges did not prove successful for the federal government, BALCO founder Victor Conte did plead guilty to various charges in 2005. Bonds’ lawyers have argued that the answer could not amount to a felony, and the 9th Circuit agreed, warning that the obstruction statute used to convict the former baseball star was not intended to criminalize such courtroom testimony.

Bonds was called before a grand jury investigating BALCO in 2003.

“That’s what keeps our friendship”, Bonds said at the time.

More than a decade after federal agents turned up a link between home run king Barry Bonds and an infamous Peninsula lab that spread steroids throughout sports, the legal case against the former San Francisco Giants slugger is officially over. His answer, which included him saying he became a “celebrity child with a famous father”, was ruled to be evasive and “served to divert the grand jury’s attention away from the relevant inquiry of the investigation”. His sentence of two years of probation and 30 days of home confinement was put on hold pending his appeal.

The prosecution decision not to appeal further means that Bonds is cleared of all charges. A player must garner at least 75 per cent of the vote to be elected.

Bonds ended his career after the 2007 season with 762 career home runs, surpassing Hank Aaron’s long-standing record of 755.