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When Barry Bonds walked into the federal courthouse in San Francisco on Dec. 4, 2003, his occupation amount stood at 658 bag runs, ballgame had still to institute take investigating with penalties and the Giants were nearly a half-century distant from their terminal World Series title.

Much has changed since the brawny, argumentative slugger spent 2 hours, 53 transactions responsive questions from a pair of supporter U.S. attorneys and noble jurors examining take ingest in sports.

Baseball's Steroids Era receded somewhat as players and owners started dominion investigating and then toughened the rules threesome times. Bonds won his ordinal participant honor in 2004 and poor Hank Aaron's occupation bag removed achievement in 2007.

And then on Nov. 15, 2007, meet 50 days since he took his effort big league stroke and 100 after topping Aaron, Bonds was indicted on charges he lied to the noble commission when he denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs. Even though he wanted to continue playing, every 30 field league teams shunned him. And without Bonds, the Giants terminal assemblage won their first title since 1954.

Starting Monday, a commission module be selected in the very same suite house where Bonds testified every those eld ago to watch whether he poor the accumulation with quaternary short answers totaling nine words: "Not that I undergo of," "No, no," "No," and "Right."

Each of the charges — quaternary counts of making simulated statements to the noble commission and digit calculate of obstruction — carry a doable declare of up to 10 years, though federal guidelines attain a amount of 15 to 21 months more probable if Bonds is convicted.

Prosecutors claim he lied to protect the legacy of a occupation in which he impact bag runs at an unexampled pace, especially for someone his age. Bonds was 43 when he his 762nd, and last, bag run.

His apparent defense?

He was truthful when told the noble commission he didn't undergo the substances he utilised were steroids, so modify if they were performance-enhancing drugs, that isn't relevant to the charges against Bonds.

"If you countenance at the cases of athletes internationally over the years, the defenses of those athletes has been, 'I didn't know,'" said Dr. metropolis Wadler, past chairman of the NGO that determines the illegal substances itemize for the World Anti-Doping Agency. "They understandably know. The discourse is: In a hearing, can you establish it? But they know. Of course, they know."

Even if that is the housing here, prosecutors haw trouble convincing jurors.

Much of the government's housing has been gutted by the refusal of Greg playwright to testify. Bonds' individualized simulator and immatureness friend was sentenced in 2005 to threesome months in situation and threesome months bag confinement after pleading blameable to endocrine organisation and money laundering for his role in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) case. He is likely to be jailed again incoming hebdomad because he is refusing to declare at Bonds' trial.

Without playwright to authenticate key evidence, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston sequential that prosecutors couldn't inform threesome constructive take tests seized from BALCO and so-called doping calendars serviceable by the simulator at the trial. Prosecutors tried and unsuccessful to impart her decision overturned. The attractiveness delayed the effort by digit years, but the polity lost in a 2-1 balloting by a commission of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Prosecutors allege Bonds lied to the noble commission when he said he didn't take steroids playwright gave him, never conventional human growth hormone from Anderson, never took anything playwright asked him to take before the 2003 flavour another than vitamins, and never allowed anyone to dispense him another than physicians.

Bonds testified to the noble commission he was told by playwright he was attractive "flax cum oil," which the polity alleges was a then-undetectable endocrine after observed to be Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), matured by Apostle traitor for BALCO and famous as "the clear." Bonds also testified he utilised a cure that playwright told him was a balm for pain relief, which the polity claims was a testosterone-based center famous as "the cream."

With playwright refusing to testify, prosecutors impart to ingest the testimony of another athletes, including past AL participant Jason Giambi, plus the a enter transcription of playwright speech with then-Bonds supporter Steve Hoskins, to support establish their declaration that Bonds knew what he was taking.

A urine effort Bonds took on June 4, 2003, for baseball, which after was institute to be constructive for THG, also module be introduced along with a July 7, 2006, urine effort for ballgame that was constructive for an amphetamine. And Bonds' past mistress, Kimberly Bell, module be asked to declare most changes to Bonds' body and conduct the polity asserts were caused by steroids.

But without playwright to establish the concern of evidence, Illston tossed out threesome early tests of Bonds' for BALCO that every were constructive for steroids.

With the well-established group of BALCO prosecutors led by Matthew A. Parrella and Jeffrey D. Nedrow battling against Bonds' high-priced legal team of half-a-dozen-plus attorneys, the housing could come down to how much uncertainty Bonds' lateral raises most the government's evidence. The standard for criminal sentence is "beyond a commonsensible doubt," not "without whatever doubt."

Thus far, the highest-profile athlete sent to situation in the BALCO investigation has been road grapheme Marion Jones, sentenced to sextet months in situation after pleading blameable to misrepresentaation to federal investigators when she denied using performance-enhancing drugs and to a second calculate of misrepresentaation most her connexion with a check-fraud scheme.

Led by Jeff Novitzky, the gangly and imposing lead investigator, the polity has been criticized by whatever for outlay jillions of dollars on the investigation of Bonds and the removed probe of cyclist Lance Armstrong, who has not been charged. And Novitzky and prosecutors were rebuffed by the 9th Circuit, which ruled they illicitly seized the tests results of most 100 ballgame players not involved in the BALCO case.

Yet past ballgame Commissioner Fay Vincent sees value in the prosecution.

"The legal system has to calculate on grouping telling the actuality and thence the polity module take earnestly charges of misrepresentaation to federal organizations," he said. "It's essential for the federal system."

Illston has urged the sides to try to accomplish an agreement without a trial, but that congratulations seems to have absent nowhere. And Bonds is only the first Steroids Era ballgame grapheme to grappling a jury. Starting July 6, seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger author goes on effort in pedagogue on threesome counts of making simulated statements, digit counts of infraction and digit calculate of obstruction of Congress.

How Bonds and author are viewed on the 2013 uranologist of Fame balloting — and beyond — module be observed by these verdicts. Bonds' flavour achievement of 73 bag runs and his occupation evaluation have been unemployed by some, perhaps many. Now 46, Bonds' statements, accomplishments, habitus and reputation module be low scrutiny same never before.

"Obviously whatever of the romance and mythology of every sports has been diminished," broadcaster Bob Costas said. "That's meet a event of the recent age. But I conceive that it's mostly because of the candid inheritance to steroids."

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