Bonds' Ex-Mistress Testifies At Perjury Trial

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Barry Bonds' former mistress testified Monday that the slugger blamed a 1999 elbow injury on steroid use, while also conceding she capitalized financially from their nine-year relationship.

   Called by prosecutors to the witness stand, Kimberly Bell also testified about physical and behavioral changes -- including a profanity-laced outburst -- she said Bonds experienced during their relationship, which ended in May 2003.

   Bonds, who holds the major league record for home runs in a career, is accused of four counts of making false statements and one of obstruction for telling a federal grand jury later in 2003 that he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs.

   Bell took the stand Monday morning after San Francisco Giants clubhouse manager Mike Murphy nervously testified that Bonds needed a bigger hat for the 2002 season. Prosecutors say that testimony is important because an enlarged head is a side effect of human growth hormone use.

   Under questioning from Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Nedrow, Bell said she asked Bonds about the problem with his left elbow, which she described as "a big lump ... it looked awful." She testified that Bonds responded by saying his steroid use caused the injury, because the muscle and tendons grew too fast for the joint to handle.

   "It blew out," she said.

   Bell also said that Bonds talked about the widespread use of steroids among baseball players, including his suspicion that Mark McGwire was juicing during his assault on the single-season home run record in 1998 -- a mark that Bonds later broke.

   "He mentioned that other players do it and that's how they got ahead, that's how they achieved," Bell testified. Dressed in a dark blue suit, Bonds alternately watched Bell on the stand, scribbled notes and whispered to one of his defense attorneys, Allen Ruby, as she testified.

   Bell, wearing a gray pantsuit and white shirt, said she and Bonds met briefly on July 3, 1994, and attended a barbecue the next day. From there, they shared a nine-year romantic relationship that continued even after Bonds married another woman in 1999.

   She also said that Bonds' sexual performance declined in the later years of their relationship. She said that his testicles changed shape and shrank. Bell also testified that Bonds grew -- and shaved -- chest hair and developed acne on his back.

   A visibly uncomfortable Bell testified that Bonds' behavior also changed in the latter years of their relationship. "He was increasingly aggressive, irritable, agitated and very impatient," she said.

   She choked up as she testified that Bonds verbally abused her starting in 1999, threatening "to cut my head off and leave me in a ditch." Bell alleged that Bonds threatened "he would cut out my breast implants because he paid for them."

   Prosecutors allege that the physical and mental changes Bell told the jury about during the last four years of their relationship are side effects of steroids use.

   "If the jury believes her, which is always a big if in this type of case, the prosecution will be taking a major step towards proving their case," said University of San Francisco law school professor Bob Talbot, who is following the trial closely.

   The second half of the Bonds-Bell relationship was the same period when Bonds noticeably bulked up and started posting unprecedented power numbers for the Giants. The seven-time NL MVP hit a season-record 73 homers in 2001 en route to a career total of 762 by the time of his last season in 2007 -- months before he was indicted for his grand jury testimony.

   In anticipation of defense attempts to portray Bell as a gold digger, Nedrow asked Bell about an interview and photograph shoot she did with Playboy that appeared in 2007. She posed nude and discussed Bonds sexual performance in the magazine.

   "I was trying to put my life together," she testified. "Maybe it wasn't the best decision."

   Bell testified that Playboy agreed to pay her $100,000, but sent the money to her agent, David Hans Schmidt. Schmidt committed suicide in 2007 while under investigation for allegedly attempting to extort the actor Tom Cruise and Bell said she saw little of the Playboy payment -- "about $17,000 or $18,000."

   At times combative, sorrowful and composed, Bell spent most of Monday trying to deflect defense attorney Cristina Arguedas' vengeful portrayal of her. It was the first time anyone other than Ruby had questioned a witness for Bonds.

   Arguedas spent much of the morning discussing Bell's attempts to write a book about Bonds and steroids after questioning her about the radio tour she went on to promote her Playboy appearance.

   Bell said she appeared on a "few" radio shows, and Arguedas shot back "More than 20?"

   It turned out that Bell appeared on about 20 radio shows, including the popular Howard Stern talk show.

   Arguedas asked Bell if she cried during any of those appearances, while recounting her Bonds' relationship. Bell said she got a "little emotional" on occasion.

   Arguedas also quizzed her about an e-mail Bell sent to Bonds' website in April 2004 listing all the women she knew that Bonds was sleeping with in New York, Phoenix, Las Vegas and elsewhere.

   "This is the guy who you described as having penile dysfunction," Arguedas said. "That's a lot of action."

   Bonds covered his mouth in an apparent attempt to suppress a grin.

   (Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)