Barry Bonds did not lie about being injected with steroids or withhold information when he was asked in court about performance-enhancing drug use, at least as far as the U.S. Department of Justice is concerned. He served the home confinement portion while waiting for his appeal to be decided. The DOJ said in its court filing that the solicitor general would not appeal the case, meaning the reversal of Bonds’ conviction would stand.
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The case involved testimony 50-year-old Bonds presented to a grand jury in 2003 about whether he used steroids in his Major League Baseball career.
Per Maura Dolan of the Los Angeles Times, Bonds’ conviction was overturned in April 2015 by a federal appeals court, and it means that federal prosecutors failed to get convictions on every charge brought against the former MVP and Roger Clemens. “As I have said before, this outcome is something I have long wished for”. Though the 9th Circuit’s ruling exposed confusion over the federal obstruction of justice law, it was not a good candidate for review by the U.S. Supreme Court because it generated four different opinions.
Bonds’ legal victory is unlikely to win over critics who concluded he cheated by using performance-enhancing drugs, or help him with Hall of Fame voters.
His sentence of two years of probation and 30 days of home confinement was put on hold pending his appeal. He has never received more than 36.8 percent of the vote for Hall of Fame induction, which requires a minimum of 75 percent.
Barry Bonds, pictured on July 10, finally escaped the government’s charge that he obstructed a steroid investigation on Tuesday.
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Bonds is USA baseball’s all-time leader with 762 career home runs and set the single-season record for homers with 73 in 2001. He has been more active with the Giants recently, serving as a hitting instructor at spring training, and Bonds still has the backing of Giants who played alongside him, such as two-time NL Cy Young Award victor Tim Lincecum.
