Last we heard from the ongoing Barry Bonds trial, the thick-necked homerun swatter was convicted of obstruction of justice for holding up the 2003 doping investigation. But Barry was back in court today while his attorneys pressed prosecutors about the outcome of the other three charges of perjury that ended in a hung jury two months ago. Bonds is caught between bases it seems: On the one hand, the prosecution would like to see a new trial for the three counts that ended in a mistrial, while the defense has further confused things by asking the judge to dismiss the single guilty charge on the grounds that it doesn't line up with the other three.
According to the Chronicle's courtroom report, the prosecution asked for more time today while they plan their next move. Judge Susan Illston will first need to make a ruling about the obstruction conviction before the case can move forward. Bonds' defense team has argued that his conviction on that charge was based on rambling speech about his friendship with trainer Greg Anderson and childhood growing up the son of another famous outfielder. As the Chronicle recounts:
The jury found the home run champion had given an evasive answer in an attempt to interfere with the grand jury's investigation of steroids use in sports. But defense attorneys countered in a court filing last week that 'unauthorized rambling is not a federal crime.' "
