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Judge Balks at Bonds Indictment

Feds told to revise charges after trying to jam multiple offenses into perjury counts

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 29, 2008 7:03 PM CST

(Newser) – The government’s case against Barry Bonds hit a snag today, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, with a judge ruling that it included multiple offenses in four of the counts of perjury in the indictment of baseball's home-run king. The feds must rewrite or re-file the indictment, Judge Susan Illston said in calling them "duplicitous."

Bonds’ lawyers have other problems with the indictment, and have filed motions claiming he committed no crime in trying to answer "imprecise, redundant, overlapping" questions with "merely incomplete, misleading or nonresponsive" answers. Illston also ordered that Bonds' 2003 testimony before a grand jury investigating steroids in sports be unsealed; though it had been leaked to the Chronicle the transcript has never been made public.

This is an artist sketch showing from left to right, Barry Bonds, defense attorney Allen Ruby, defense attorney Cristina Arguedasan, prosecutor Matthew Parrella and U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston where they set a trial date in San Francisco, Friday, Dec. 7, 2007. Bonds is accused of repeatedly lying...
This is an artist sketch showing from left to right, Barry Bonds, defense attorney Allen Ruby, defense attorney Cristina Arguedasan, prosecutor Matthew Parrella and U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston...   (Associated Press)
A fan holds a sign in regard to San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds during their Major League Baseball game against the San Diego Padres in San Diego, in this Aug. 5, 2007 file photo.  Bonds was charged Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007 with perjury and obstruction of justice, the culmination of...
A fan holds a sign in regard to San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds during their Major League Baseball game against the San Diego Padres in San Diego, in this Aug. 5, 2007 file photo. Bonds was charged...   (Associated Press)
Barry Bonds arrives at the San Francisco Federal Building in San Francisco, in this  Dec. 7, 2007 file photo.  Bonds' lawyers are scheduled to ask U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston on Friday, Feb. 29, 2008  to dismiss a federal indictment charging him with perjury and obstruction of justice...
Barry Bonds arrives at the San Francisco Federal Building in San Francisco, in this Dec. 7, 2007 file photo. Bonds' lawyers are scheduled to ask U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston on Friday, Feb....   (Associated Press)
Former San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds leaves the Philip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco, on Friday, Dec. 21, 2007 after responding to government concerns that his high powered legal team may have conflicts of interest because they have represented other figures in the Balco steroids scandal. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)
Former San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds leaves the Philip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco, on Friday, Dec. 21, 2007 after responding to government concerns that his high powered legal team may...   (Associated Press)
This is an artist sketch showing Barry Bonds answering a question during his arraignment in San Francisco, Friday, Dec. 7, 2007. Bonds is accused of repeatedly lying when he testified under oath that he never knowingly used performance enhancing drugs. (AP Photo/Vicki Ellen Behringer)
This is an artist sketch showing Barry Bonds answering a question during his arraignment in San Francisco, Friday, Dec. 7, 2007. Bonds is accused of repeatedly lying when he testified under oath that...   (Associated Press)
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