Mistrial Ruled In Roger Clemens Case; Could Get Off Due To Double-Jeopardy

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton was not certain of a fair trial, in the case of former-major league baseball star Roger Clemens' perjury trial,  and ruled a mistrial on the second day of the case.  His ruling was handed down after prosecutors showed jurors inadmissible evidence against his orders.

Prosecutors claimed the problem could be corrected with instructions to the jury to "disregard the evidence."

Walton wasn't convinced of the prosecution's assurance and said, "We've got a man's liberty at interest."

The jurist followed that up by reasoning," I don't see how I can un-ring the bell."

Now the government's case could be "concluded" if they determine not to re-try the case or if Clemens' attorneys claim 'double-jeopardy."  The term refers to the law which prevents anyone from being tried again for the same crime.



According to ESPN legal analyst Lester Munson, the "government failed 100%" by not removing evidence it was instructed to dispose from the case.  The "blunder" could lead to acquittal through the mistrial and legal loophole.

The piece of evidence in question refers to video testimony from former New York Yankees teammate and good friend, Andy Pettitte, who said Clemens told him in 1999 or 2000 conversation that the pitcher used performance-enhancing drugs during his career.

Walton stopped the prosecutor's playing of the video of the 2008 testimony before Congress and removed the jury from the Washington courtroom.

Clemens is accused of lying to Congress during that testimony and claims Pettitte misheard him.

Walton said prosecutors erred when they showed jurors evidence that was previously unusable in the case.

Prosecutors wanted to use Pettitte's wife Laura as a witness to corroborate Pettitte's statement, but the motion was denied because Clemens never said it directly to his wife.

Pettitte said he told his wife about the conversation with Clemens the day it happened but Walton still considered it second-hand information.

Being denied a chance to use this key piece of the prosecution's evidence was a big blow to their case.

"The ability with Mr. Clemens with this jury to get a fair trial with this jury would be very difficult, if not impossible," said Walton.

This was the second time prosecutor's have gone against Walton's orders.  Yesterday, assistant U.S. attorney Steven Durham said Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch and Mike Stanton used human-growth-hormones.

Before that, the prosecution came out with guns blazing on the first day of the trial.

In their opening statement, the prosecution showed off photos of medical waste that they claimed contained both anabolic steroids and Clemens DNA.  They claimed the needles and bloody cotton balls would prove Clemens was lying when he testified before Congress.

Clemens attorney, Rusty Hardin, claimed the prosecution's evidence was manufactured by Clemens former trainer, Brian McNamee.

After today's ruling, Walton told the jurors to leave and said, "The case has already cost a lot of taxpayer money."

Walton reschedule a Sept. 2 hearing to determine if a new trial is necessary.

Potential witnesses who might have called to testify in the case included a Who's Who of former big league players.

Clemens and his attorneys remain under a gag order.

Roger Clemens Witness List Looks More Like an All-Star Roster

Former pitching great Roger Clemens may call on ex-teammates to testify in his defense at his perjury trial.  At the same time, a prosecutor said he may call former players already implicated in the scandal to the stand as well.  It's virtually a Who's Who of future, potential and tainted Hall of Famers.

While throngs of potential jurors lined up outside the E. Prettyman Court House in Washington; both sides planned their strategies and it sounds like a lot of former baseball greats might be headed for the stand.

It sounded like U.S. District Judge might permit Clemens former Yankees teammates-- Chuck Knoblauch, Andy Pettitte and Mike Stanton-- to take the stand, after Clemen's attorney, Rusty Hardin, said that Clemens' main accuser, Brian McNamee, created evidence made to blackmail his client.

Other potential witnesses including Mark McGwire, Jorge Posada and Sammy Sosa also appeared on the list.



Clemens, the 48 year-old winner of seven Cy Young Awards, was indicted a year ago on charges he gave false statements to a U.S. Congressional Committee investigating the use of steroids in baseball and perjured himself under oath while obstructing the committee's investigation into the wide-spread use of the drug which damaged the sport's reputation.

Other witnesses' names being mentioned by both the defense and prosecution include Barry Bonds, Wade Boggs, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa and the guy who literally wrote the book on steroids--Jose Canseco.

The collection of names looks more like an old All-Star roster than a witness list in a Federal case and it's a pretty formidable team.

Here we go position by position.

1st Base-       Mark McGwire.  Former Oakland A's and St. Louis great.   583 career home-runs.
2nd Base-     Chuck Knoblauch.   Former Minnesota Twins and Yankee All-Star until he couldn't control his errant throws.
Shortstop-    Alex Rodriguez.  Yankees current third baseman who dates Cameron Diaz.
Third Base-  Wade Boggs. Former Red Sox player who jumped to Yankees and rode police horse around old Yankee Stadium after winning World Series.
Catcher-        Jorge Posada.  Current Yankee DH who stormed out of manager's office after getting dropped to batting ninth in the batting order earlier this year.
Outfield-        Barry Bonds.  All-time HR leader with 762.  Tried in own perjury case in April.
                       Sammy Sosa.  Seven time All-Star who tested positive for steroids in 2003 according to New York Times.  609 career homers.
                       Jose Canseco.  Former teammate of Clemens and admitted steroid user and book writer.
Relief-            Mike Stanton.  Former teammate of the Rocket on the Yankees.
Starter-          Andy Pettitte.  Just retired Yankee lefthander (19-10 postseason record) and good friend of Clemens.  Probably has most to lose in this hearing besides Clemens.

Baseball fans' eyes will be glued to the All-Star game at Chase Field in Phoenix next week, but the real  action may be in a Washington D.C. courtroom.  And while the former baseball talent testifying may even be questionably better than most of the 2011 All-Stars, there is no doubt there is more on the line than World Series home field advantage for some of these ex-big league players.