Judge indicates she will bar use of steroids tests in Barry Bonds case

A federal judge Thursday appeared poised to weaken the government's perjury case against Barry Bonds, indicating that she plans to strip prosecutors of perhaps their strongest evidence that Baseball's all-time home run king lied to a grand jury about using steroids in 2003.

Illston is expected to issue a final decision soon, but if she blocks use of the drug tests it would mark the strongest suggestion yet that prosecutors will be hobbled because they lack the testimony of Greg Anderson, Bonds' former personal trainer who has steadfastly refused to cooperate and tell his account in a courtroom.

Federal prosecutors insist Anderson supplied Bonds with steroids, and that he was responsible for getting his urine and blood tested through Balco, the now-defunct Peninsula lab at the heart of the biggest sports doping scandal in history. But unless Anderson were to testify that he did so, defense lawyers have argued that there is no way to validate the steroids tests, or to ensure Bonds' legal right to cross-examine Anderson, who would be his chief accuser in absentia.

The government maintains that documents seized from Balco, with notes containing references to Bonds and matched with results from a Nevada lab that tested his purported samples, are proof that the slugger tested positive for steroids. But Illston indicated Thursday that the government needs a witness to verify the link between the samples and documents.

"If there is no testimony to establish that, I don't think any of them work,'' the judge said.

Mark Geragos, Anderson's lawyer, told the Mercury News last week that Anderson has received a letter from prosecutors asking him to testify, but that he will continue to refuse. That sets up another potential showdown between Anderson and prosecutors if he takes the stand and refuses to testify. Anderson already served a year in prison in 2007 for contempt when he refused to testify before the grand jury investigating Bonds.

Federal prosecutors still have some ammunition for a jury. Documents released this week show they have evidence that Bonds tested positive for steroids in 2003 when all major league players were tested under a program designed to determine the scope of steroid use in the sport. But that evidence would not be as powerful as the three other tests, two of which tested positive for injectable forms of performance-enhancing drugs.

In addition, the positive test in 2003 was for a Balco-produced designer steroid distributed to Anderson's clients. The test first produced a negative result, but was later retested by the government and turned up positive, a conflict certain to be presented to jurors. Further, Bonds admitted getting a cream from Anderson in the 2003 grand jury testimony that led to his indictment, but denied receiving steroids from him or "knowingly'' using steroids. If the case boils down to that one test, it will be a challenge for prosecutors to prove conclusively that Bonds lied to the grand jury.

Bonds' lawyers declined to discuss specifics of the hearing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Parrella declined to comment.

Rory Little, a former federal prosecutor and University of California Hastings College of the Law professor, said if the evidence is crucial to the government's case, prosecutors could appeal an order keeping it out of trial, a move that could delay the proceedings further.

Earlier Thursday, Bonds pleaded not guilty to the government's latest perjury indictment, which charges him with 10 counts of perjury and one count of obstructing justice in connection with allegations that he lied to a federal grand jury in 2003 about using steroids as he chased Baseball's all-time home run record.

Illston then considered his bid to exclude much of the key evidence against him. Wednesday, hundreds of pages of documents outlining the core of the government's perjury case were unsealed.

The judge largely agreed with Bonds' lawyers. In court papers, they've argued the government has cobbled together evidence that would deprive Bonds of a fair trial, and that isn't supported without Anderson's account

Illston also appeared poised to bar the use of various notes and doping calendars from Balco that purported to be linked to Bonds' urine samples, undercutting the value of testimony from former Balco Vice President James Valente, who is scheduled to be one of the government's prime witnesses. Valente told the grand jury investigating Bonds in 2006 that Anderson told him the samples were from Bonds, which is why he made notations to that effect on documents.

Illston, however, called that evidence "classic hearsay'' without Anderson's testimony.

The judge did appear inclined to allow a tape recording between Steve Hoskins, a longtime Bonds associate who had a falling out with the slugger over money, and Anderson. The recording, which took place in the San Francisco Giants' locker room in 2003, appeared to involve Anderson talking about how he administered steroids to Bonds, and ways of avoiding Baseball's testing program, but does not include specific statements to that effect.

Prosecutors intend to call to testify a number of current and former ballplayers who admitted receiving steroids from Anderson and Balco, including Jason and Jeremy Giambi, and former Giants Benito Santiago, Bobby Estalella and Marvin Benard. Prosecutors also intend to call several witnesses to testify on changes to Bonds' physical state while he allegedly took steroids, including, Kimberly Bell, his former mistress, and former Giants trainer Stan Conte.