Jason Giambi Among Witnesses To Be Called In Bonds Perjury Case
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Federal prosecutors on Friday submitted the lineup of witnesses they intend to call during the much-delayed Barry Bonds perjury trial and it includes Rockies first baseman Jason Giambi and the home run king's former personal trainer at the center of the case.
Bonds has pleaded not guilty to lying to a grand jury in 2003 when he denied knowingly taking steroids. The former Giants star's trial is scheduled to start March 21 in San Francisco.
The trial was delayed for two years while prosecutors unsuccessfully appealed a judge's order barring them from showing the jury urine tests showing steroid use they said belonged to Bonds and other evidence collected by Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, unless the trainer testified.
The trainer told a judge last year and steadfastly maintains he will go to prison rather than testify against Bonds. The prosecutors said they expect Anderson to keep his vow of silence and have asked U.S. District Judge Susan Illston to jail him if he refuses to testify when called.
Anderson previously spent a year in prison for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating Bonds' perjury case. Anderson also pleaded guilty to steroids distribution for his participation in a steroids ring centered at the now-defunct Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative in Burlingame.
Bonds' former girlfriend, Kimberly Bell, also is expected to testify. Prosecutors said Bonds told her he was taking steroids prior to the 2000 baseball season.
"Ms. Bell will further testify to personal observations regarding changes in the defendant's body during the period of time beginning in the year 2000, including bloating, acne on the shoulders and back, hair loss, and testicle shrinkage," the court papers state.
The list of 25 witnesses includes no new names from the near-identical list prosecutors filed in February 2009, a month before Bonds' trial was originally supposed to start. Giambi, a potential free agent who played for Colorado in 2010 and intends to play next year, is expected to discuss his own steroid use and his relationship with Anderson.
The list includes former baseball players Bobby Estalella, Armando Rios, Marvin Benard, Benito Santiago, Randy Velarde and Jason's brother, Jeremy. Estalella is expected to testify that Bonds told him he used steroids. The prosecutors will call the other retired players and former football player Larry Izzo to the witness stand to discuss their steroid use and dealings with Anderson.
Though the judge has barred prosecutors from presenting the urine samples collected by Anderson, they said in Friday's court papers that they will show the jury the results from another positive drug test that allegedly belongs to Bonds.
The prosecutors said they have a urine sample Bonds submitted as part of a Major League Baseball testing program before the 2003 season. The prosecutors said that sample shows Bonds testing positive for steroid use.
The court papers also said prosecutors plan to play a conversation between Bonds' former business partner, Steve Hoskins, and Anderson that Hoskins allegedly recorded in the Giants' locker room during the 2003 season. The recording purportedly captures Anderson telling Hoskins how he helped inject Bonds with steroids.
Bonds countered late Friday with his own witness list, which includes one of his attorneys. Bonds' legal team said they may call attorney Michael Rains to "testify to promises and representations made by the Government prior to Mr. Bonds' grand jury testimony, as well as interactions between the Government and Mr. Bonds after the promises and representations were made, but before he testified."
Bonds' list also includes Mark Letendre, a former San Francisco Giants trainer who is currently Major League Baseball's director of umpire medical services. His lawyers also plan to call a medical doctor who is a steroids expert to discuss side effects and Harvey Shields, another of Bonds' personal trainers.
Bonds' lawyers said they haven't listed all the witnesses they may call.
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