Major League Baseball home run king Barry
Bonds is still due to go to trial on March 2 and is facing several counts of
making false statements that he denied knowingly taking illegal performance-
enhancing drugs, but three of the perjury charges were dismissed Monday.
Bonds was originally charged with 14 counts of perjury and one for obstruction
of lying to a grand jury, but on Monday U.S. District Judge Susan Illston
dismissed three charges, yet refused to drop other counts as sought by Bonds'
lawyers.
Bonds' lawyers have sought to dismiss 10 of the charges, saying the questions
he was asked were "ambiguous" but Illston decided to lump or change two other
charges. The player's attorneys have contended that under law the indictment
was deficient because the government can accuse a person of only one crime per
count of an indictment. Apparently, too many allegations were compiled into
too few counts of the original indictment.
Bonds has been accused of lying under oath to a federal grand jury during his
testimony, given under oath in December 2003. That is at the center of his
November 15, 2007 indictment for perjury and obstruction of justice.
If Bonds is found guilty, he'd likely spend around two years in prison.
A seven-time MVP, eight-time Gold Glove winner, 14-time All-Star and two-time
batting champion, Bonds owns seven single-season major league records, most
notably a 73-home run season in 2001 with the Giants.
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