Judge Denies Clemens' Motion To Prevent 2nd Perjury Trial

A motion by Roger Clemens' defense team to have a judge dismiss the government's case against the former pitcher was denied Friday afternoon, as reported by Fox News.  Clemens' lead attorney Rusty Hardin had asked judge Reggie Walton to forbid another trial following the July hearing in which the judge declared a mistrial after two days of testimony.

According to Fox News, the judge sided with the prosecution and set a date for the second trial.

Hardin accused prosecutors of deliberately sabotaging the case because it was going badly for the government.

During the first trial jurors were shown evidence that was already determined to be inadmissible in court by the judge.

The prosecution team claimed it was a mistake.  Prosecutors-- Steven Durham and Daniel Butler made a critical error by introducing the barred evidence.  They apologized and impelled Walton into giving them another chance.

The evidence in question was a video in which a congressman referred to testimony by Laura Pettitte-- former Yankee Andy Pettitte's wife-- that Walton had barred as second-hand testimony.

In a statement, Walton said," I want to believe it is a mistake.  I would find it hard to believe that they would blatantly disregard a ruling I would make.  But it's hard for me to reach another conclusion."

Hardin, meanwhile, thinks a retrial would be a "reward" for the prosecutors for causing the mistrial in the first place.

Clemens is accused of lying under oath after speaking before a committee about steroid use in 2008.

At that hearing, Clemens testified," No matter what we discuss here, I'm never going to have my name restored.  But I've got to set the record straight.  Let me be clear.  I've never taken steroids or HGH."

Today's decision by judge Walton means that there was no procedural misconduct and it favors the prosecution.

The ruling determined that Clemens will be tried once more for lying under oath.  The trial date is set for April 17.

A guilty verdict would further tarnish the image of one of baseball's greatest pitchers and hinder his chances of getting into Cooperstown.

Hardin said it would take a couple of days to decide if they will file an appeal.

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.

Yankees Jeter Will Be Hitting and Pettitte Might Be Sitting

It looks like Derek Jeter will be getting an early jump on the 2011 season by heading down to Tampa in two weeks to work out with New York Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long--three weeks before the start of spring training.

When last seen Jeter was happily splashing around the Caribbean with his girl Minka Kelly.  This was after a disappointing season as a player and an early exit from the playoffs.   The year was capped off with a mockery of drawn out contract negotiations with the Yankees.  The turbulent contract talks had Jeter--normally a company man--suggesting, after the new contract was signed, that the team leaked information during the talks to make the Yankee star look like the bad guy.  All in all, it wasn't the best of times for the face of the team and future Hall of Famer.

Jeter, doesn't need to be reminded about his below-standard season and is looking to remedy his .270 average--a monstrous 30 points below his career number.

Long has worked with other players during the off-season but never with Jeter.  "He wants to get going," said Long from his home in Arizona.  " We're well on our way to getting that [Jeter's low average] taken care of and seeing if we can't speed up the process with him a little bit," he said.

Jeter isn't the only Yankee taking last season not sitting down.  Long will piling on the frequent flier miles after he spent time in Los Angeles working with outfielder Nick Swisher.  Next week he will be in New York working with first-baseman Mark Teixeira before heading down to Miami to work with third-baseman Alex Rodriquez and newly-appointed DH Jorge Posada.

Long is prepared to correct any problems which caused Jeter to put up the worst numbers of his solid career.

"I think we found something with his stride and the direction of his stride and going up and down with his stride instead of gaining distance and going in," said the hitting coach.  "We're going to keep it as simple as possible."

While Jeter gets a jump on his new three-year deal, things don't look so good for the Yankees and their veteran pitcher Andy Pettitte.

GM Brian Cashman has been dropping subtle hints since October that the free-agent Pettitte was straddling the fence on whether or not to pitch another season with the Yankees.  Yesterday Cashman may have let the cat out of the bag after he said the lefthander "has chosen at this stage at least, not to start in 2011."

"Don't count on me," is what Pettitte told Cashman.

The Yankee GM tried clarify Pettitte's statement by saying, " I don't think he's determined if he's officially finished or not , but he's chosen at this stage at least not to start in 2011. If that ever changes, he'll call us," said Cashman.  "We're not going to hound him or bother him," he said.

Pettitte has pulled this will he or won't he act before.  The Yankees, who did not add a big-time starter to the rotation this off-season, are probably hoping for the 38 year-old Pettitte's return.

Even if Pettitte does return to baseball, it could be in another uniform.  The Texas native desires to be near his family and reportedly has not been working out during the off-season--which he normally does.

Pettitte has repeatedly claimed that if he does return, it would only be in Yankee pinstripes.

The lack of big-name pickup during the off-season pick-up could sway Pettitte.  He pitched 21 games last season and finished 11-3 with a 3.28 ERA.  The Yankees are looking at an average starting rotation, even with Pettitte, with little help on the horizon.

Pettitte confessed in 2008 to using human growth hormone will be a star witness in the government's case against his old teammate and buddy,  Roger Clemens this summer.

Clemens trial--which the former pitcher is accused of lying under oath about using steroids and HGH--is scheduled for July and could put a considerable amount of stress and a limit on Pettitte's time.  I'm sure Pettitte would rather face the potent Red Sox lineup then to be cross-examined by Clemens tough-as-a-cowboy's saddle, attorney Rusty Hardin.

Cashman says he is ready to push forward, with or without Pettitte.  "I'm actively out there," the GM said.  "It's a very thin market to be flying in right now.  That's why we may have to rely on our strong farm system a little bit sooner than we expected."

All signs seem to point to a Pettitte retirement but, for now, Cashman better get down on the farm sooner anyway.