Feds give Bonds a walk-off victory

Lawyers from the office of U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag said in a filing that the USA solicitor general, who determines whether to appeal federal cases to the Supreme Court, decided not to appeal the circuit court decision.

On Tuesday, July 21, the United States Department of Justice officially concluded its criminal prosecution of Barry Bonds, Major League Baseball’s career home run leader.

Per Maura Dolan of the Los Angeles Times, Bonds’ conviction was overturned in April 2015 by a federal appeals court, and it means that federal prosecutors failed to get convictions on every charge brought against the former MVP and Roger Clemens.

Bonds ended his career after the 2007 season with 762 homers, surpassing the record of 755 that Hank Aaron set from 1954-76. As I have said before, this outcome is something I have long wished for.

Despite that, he has not come close to being elected into the Hall of Fame due to his PED ties.

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

Bonds is the only one of 11 people charged in the BALCO case left without a conviction. A San Francisco jury more than three years ago deadlocked on the central perjury charges against Bonds but convicted him on an obstruction charge for his rambling answer to a question about whether his former personal trainer, Greg Anderson, had ever supplied or injected him with steroids. “Instead, the DOJ said the reversal of Bonds’ conviction would stand”.

“That’s what keeps our friendship”, Bonds replied. 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”.

A jury convicted Bonds in 2011 of obstruction of justice for giving a meandering answer to a federal grand jury when asked about injections.

“Thank you to all of you who have expressed your heartfelt wishes to me; for that, I am grateful”, Bonds said.